


Hired Beard

by bromanceorromance



Series: Forbidden Love [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Modest Management (One Direction), Secret Relationship, beard relationship(s), choose your own sequel, elounor is a beard relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-07 02:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 34,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1882095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bromanceorromance/pseuds/bromanceorromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We'd like to know if you would be willing to go on a couple of dates with Harry."<br/>"Excuse me?" I was shocked.<br/>"Sorry, I should've introduced myself. My name is Katherine, I'm with Modest, as I said before, and, more specifically, I work with the band's public image. We need a clean-cut, normal girl for Harry to go out with and you and he seemed to have chemistry together. Enough chemistry that it would be believable."<br/>"You want me to date Harry Styles?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting Katherine

"I'm with Modest Management. Could I speak with you for a moment?" The lady had just appeared in front of me. I was on my way back to my seat after meeting the boys of One Direction and didn't understand why I was being stopped by someone from their management team.

"Sure, is there a problem?" I asked.

"Could we speak in private?" She gestured to a nearby dressing room.

"I guess. Am I in trouble?" I hesitated.

"Oh, no, absolutely not," the woman replied, leading me into the empty room.

"What is it you want then?"

"We'd like to know if you would be willing to go on a couple of dates with Harry."

"Excuse me?" I was shocked.

"Sorry, I should've introduced myself. My name is Katherine, I'm with Modest!, as I said before, and, more specifically, I work with the band's public image. We need a clean-cut, normal girl for Harry to go out with and you and he seemed to have chemistry together. Enough chemistry that it would be believable."

"You want me to date Harry Styles?"

"Yes, we'd like for you to go on a couple dates here while they're in town and, if it goes well, we might have a longer contract drawn up."

"Contract?"

"Yes, we'd have to have you sign a contract. We can't have anyone leaking information that isn't meant to be public."

"Can I talk to Harry about it first?"

"How about you think about it while you enjoy the concert and I'll get you in to talk to Harry afterwards?" Katherine suggested.

"Okay. I'll think about it."

"And don't be mentioning this conversation to anyone."

"Of course. I just don't want to agree to anything before I speak to Harry."

"Come back after the concert. I'll make sure you two can speak for a few moments. Enjoy the concert," and with that, she strode away, out of the dressing room and I could hear her heels clicking down the hallway.

It was several moments before I moved, still shocked at the proposition I had just received. I walked down the hall and stopped at the first restroom I came across, walking inside to stand at the sink and splash water on my face. This is insane. That did not just happen. Oh my god. What am I going to say to him?

I made my way back to my seat and forced my mind away from my conversation with Katherine as the concert started. I was so excited to be there, but every time I caught Louis and Harry sharing a sad look, I knew that they knew. They'd been told that it was no longer just Louis that had to have a beard. I teared up as Harry sang about loving 'all his little things' and felt like my heart was being ripped out when Louis turned and smiled at him. Can I really be the fake girlfriend while I know that love is happening behind the scenes? Is this what they want? Do they have a choice? What am I going to say to him?

I quickly opened Twitter on my phone and deleted everything I'd ever said about Larry from my personal account. If they don't know I'm a Larry shipper, then it has to stay that way. They wouldn't have offered this to me if they had known. I might delete my entire account and start over if this really happens.

 

After the concert was over, I said goodbye to the girls I'd spoken to around me and told my friends not to wait as I fought my way through the crowd to get to the doors to backstage. I told the security guard that Katherine had told me to come back and he quickly confirmed it through his walkie before letting me through with brief instructions on how to find her. I quickly made my way through the hallway before stopping at the door that I thought he'd indicated I should knock on. I quickly knocked and waited awkwardly as people passed, looking at me strangely. The door opened and Lou, the boys' hairdresser stood there, asking what I needed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I think I got the wrong door. I was supposed to be finding Katherine; she was going to let me talk to Harry for a moment about something."

She opened the door further and I realized that Harry was in the room, head in his hands, looking distressed.

"Harry," she addressed him. "I think this is her. She's looking for Katherine."

"Sorry, could we talk?" I asked. "Alone?" I hesitantly glanced at Lou.

He finally looked up at me. "I'll tell her everything anyways, so if it's alright, I'd rather you just say whatever it is you want to say. I don't have a whole lot of power in this situation."

"I, uh," I stuttered, rapidly collecting my thoughts before it all just came bursting out. "I know they just want to hire me as a beard and that you and Louis are totally in love and I don't want to agree to do this without it being okay with you, I mean, I know they'll just get somebody else if I say no, but I just want you to know that I'm totally supportive of you and Louis and I'd never want to get in the way of what you two have and I'd only agree to this whole arrangement if it's okay with you and I am not expecting anything beyond friendship from you and I just thought maybe you'd prefer to have me who is already supportive of your relationship and totally not expecting anything, rather than some random girl who is just excited to get to date a popstar as hot as you," I said, all in one breath.

Lou and Harry both just stared at me for several moments in shock. I blushed.

"Sorry, I'm nervous," I explained.

"Do they know?" Lou asked me, pulling me in and shutting the door.

"Know what?" I asked, confused.

"That you know about Harry and Louis? That you're supportive of them already?"

"No, I don't think they would've ever approached me if they had known. I already deleted all the Larry stuff from my personal twitter. Considered deleting my twitter altogether and just getting a new one."

"Hopefully they wouldn't make that necessary. People will believe you more if you already have an account," Harry spoke up.

"What do you think, Harry?" Lou asked, glancing between us.

"I don't---" he started, pausing to walk over to the door. "Could you get Louis down here real fast?" I heard him ask someone outside of the room before closing the door again.

"They told me it was only supposed to be a couple of dates to see how it went this week," I stated, trying to figure out how to interpret the situation. "I mean, we can do that and totally botch it and move on, if you want."

"No, they're trying to get rid of the 'player' image that they created for me, so they won't like it at all if that happens. They tried to do it with Taylor, but she chose to ignore the fact that it was all a publicity stunt," Harry replied. "If you sign that contract, they're going to want to keep you around for at least six months, I'd guess."

There was a knock at the door just before Louis entered.

"Hey, what's going on?" Louis asked. He said it very casually, but it looked like he'd shed a few tears in the time since the concert had ended.

"This is Riley, we met her earlier? She's the one they're trying to set me up with," Harry explained.

"Has she signed the contract already? I thought the date was going to be tomorrow?"

"She wanted to speak with me first."

"I really think you should tell her to sign it," Lou spoke up.

"I thought you were against this whole---" Louis paused and glanced at me nervously.

"I know about the whole bearding you guys up thing," I replied, nervously. He flushed slightly before continuing to look at Lou.

"Management isn't going to be letting you two come out anytime soon. The logical solution is for them to give Harry a beard so that they can show the public that you're both taken. If you don't take her, then they'll find someone else."

"I swear to God that I will do whatever you guys want. I know it sucks lying to your fans, but there are some of us out there who still know. We've figured it out. If this is the way it has to be for now, wouldn't you rather have some random fan that is totally willing to just become friends with you and support you than some fan that thinks she can make Harry actually fall in love with her?" I asked. "I know Harry's taken. I'm just saying I'm willing to stand in and try to take Louis' orders over management's as much as possible."

"It'll have to be convincing."

"I know. Katherine said she thought Harry and I had good chemistry and that's why she's picked me. We can play our roles in the public eye."

"Okay," Louis said.

"Alright, I'm in. I don't like this at all, but you seem like you get the situation a lot better than most girls would coming into this."

"I'll go find Katherine and tell her to bring the contract," Lou offered, slipping out of the room.

"Louis, I just want you to know that I'd really like to be friends with both you and Harry. I don't want any weird anger or jealousy to pop up just because I'm acting as his beard. If I do anything that you don't like, please just tell me and, as long as management won't, like, cut off my fingers or something, I'll never do it again."

Louis laughed. "I haven't heard them threaten to cut off anyone's fingers, although I definitely could see them doing that."

I walked over to the chair that Harry had occupied minutes before and sat down.

"Also, you guys really don't have to fake it in front of me. I know it's weird right now, but I swear I'm okay with it, and I'm sure it's in the contract that I can't say anything even if I wanted to, which I totally don't."

They looked at each other hesitantly and then back at me.  
"Please, at least hug. I saw those looks you were giving each other all night. I was crying from my seat knowing it was because of me."

"Riley, we don't---"

"It's not your fault."

"But it sort of is, because I was what they were looking for and I happened to stroll through and smile and make Harry laugh and I looked totally normal and average and exactly what they were looking for."

"Still not ever blaming this on you, babe," Harry replied just before Katherine came through the door.

"Lou tells me that you're ready to sign?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah, I'm in." I smiled.

"This one's just going to be for the week. The secrecy thing goes for twelve months after your contract has ended. Of course, we're hoping this week will go well and we'll have you sign another that will be for much longer."

"I'll sign, of course, but can I get a copy of it to read over later? Make sure I don't have any questions."

"Of course, of course. I'll get a copy made and have it to you before you leave. I just need you to sign here and here and here."

I signed on the dotted lines with only one nervous look up at Harry and Louis who both nodded for me to continue.

"Alright, that's done, I'll just leave you here to get to know each other while I get this copied."

Katherine left the room with a huge grin on her face.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Louis asked. "She doesn't know that you know about us."

"Nope."

 


	2. First Date

_Date at eleven in the am. That alright?_

**_Yeah. I can make myself be up and presentable._ **

_We'll do brunch and then we're going to the zoo for a couple of hours._

_It's a good place for the paps to get pics._

**_Ah, yes. I'll make sure I'm pic ready then._ **

**_No promises._ **

 

**Please don't screw this up.**

_**Louis, I would do no such thing.** _

**H thinks this will work.**

_**Of course it will, we'll be the best of friends and do a little hand holding and staring into each others' eyes to make it convincing.** _

_**It's a first date. I'll be giggly and nervous.** _

**Make sure when you go see the penguins you remind him to send me a pic.**

_**Okay, whatever you say, boss.** _

 

Both boys texted me late that evening. Well, early morning, I guess you could say. I'd signed the contract and was reading through it, highlighting bits and pieces that I wanted clarified, since I knew the longer term contract would be pretty much the same thing. It basically said they could demand I be wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted, dressed however they wanted. They would have access to my Twitter account and would be allowed to post from it pretending to me. They would have access to my Facebook. They would have access to anything online with my name on it, pretty much. I knew most of this, having looked into what people theorized was in Eleanor's contract. No turning back now, I thought before climbing into bed.

 

\-----

 

"Good morning," Harry said as soon as I opened the door. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let me grab my phone," I replied, dashing off to grab it out of my bedroom.

"There's a few paps outside. Followed me here, I'm afraid," he told me as I locked my door behind me.

"Okay, whatever. We can do this."

"Are you nervous, love?" he asked, slipping his hand around my waist to lead me down the hall.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "I'm going on a date with Harry Styles."

"Oh, I've heard he's a nice bloke. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Oh, you've met?"

"Once or twice."

"Good to know. Where are we going for brunch?" My stomach growled and Harry laughed.

"Just a little diner close to the zoo. They serve breakfast all day," he replied as we stepped out the doors of the apartment building. There were only two paps there, but they flashed their cameras in our faces several times between leaving the apartment building and reaching the black car waiting for us on the curb.

"Harry, who is this?"

"Harry, look over here."

"What's your name?"

"What's her name, Harry?"

The door shut behind Harry as he climbed in behind me.

"Is it like this everywhere you go?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"That's got to suck."

"You get used to it. Well, you better get used to it," he replied. "I've never had a girlfriend before so I can't promise that they won't just start following you around."

"I doubt it. I mean, maybe when we're in the same town, but I doubt it otherwise."

"That's optimistic of you."

"I'll deal with it if not, besides, this is a first date. Who said I'd agree to be your girlfriend already?"

"I'm charming, I doubt you can say no when I ask."

I laughed.

 

\-----

 

"Have you ever been here?" I asked as we entered the little diner.

"No, Katherine recommended it."

"I like it. It's a lot smaller than I was expecting. Reminds me of the diner on Bones."

"Bones?"

"It's a TV show. Pretty popular. On their ninth season now, I think," I replied as we sat down at a little table by the window.

"Sorry," he mumbled as I glanced out at the camera pointed in our direction. "I was given explicit instructions to sit by the window where they could see us."

"No biggie," I smiled and reached for his hand across the table.

He smiled in relief and laced our fingers together as a young waitress came over.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked before Harry looked up at her. She froze, dropping her pen and notepad. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting---" She quickly grabbed her items off of the floor.

"It's okay, babe," Harry assured her. "We are ready to order."

"I'll just have a stack of pancakes."

"I'll take the same with a glass of chocolate milk."

"Oooo, same."

She quickly scribbled our order down and took off to the kitchen.

"You better offer a picture with the poor girl," I told Harry. "She was completely star-struck."

"I will, of course, before we leave."

"Good."

"Is this how it's going to be?"

"What?"

"You reminding me to be a good person?"

"Yes," I grinned. "I'll definitely always remind you to be a good person, because despite the shit the media write about you, I know you are a good person."

Harry smiled. "I think I can deal with that."

"Here's your order," our waitress was back. She blushed slightly before saying, "You two make a really cute couple."

Harry grinned even bigger. "Thank you. If you'd like, I can come get a picture with you before we leave."

"Really?" the girl exclaimed. "I didn't want to be a bother, but that would be so great."

"No trouble, we'll take it after we've finished."

"Thank you," the girl beamed. "And I mean it, you two are adorable. I didn't realize you were seeing anyone."

"It's our first date," I supplied, blushing.

"Oh, I'm making this awkward, I'll walk away now," she said, quickly making her way back behind the counter.

"So we're a cute couple," I commented as soon as she'd left. "She called us 'cute.'"

"We are a cute couple. I'm adorable and you're beautiful. Not surprising at all."

I blushed. "Thanks."

"Clearly Katherine thought we'd be cute or she'd have never set this up."

"I bet that girl's a fan and is tweeting about this when her boss isn't looking," I said, glancing over towards where the girl was clearly looking down at her phone.

"Guess you might get to experience the fangirls today along with the paps."

"If everything goes well, I'd have to experience them soon anyways."

"I'm sure Katherine will want to know how you handle the fans, anyways. Might endear you to her."

"I'm sure it will endear me to you."

"Of course it will. My fans are the world to me. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"They tend to cyberbully more than anything, right?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which - " He grabbed his phone out of his pocket. "What's your twitter handle?"

I reached over and grabbed his phone, quickly typing it into the search bar on Twitter and clicking follow.

"There. That's something I've only been waiting for for the last two years."

"Sorry, don't get on and follow people much. And there's a lot of people."

"No, I know. It's just nice. You should follow our waitress. I bet she'd just love it."

"Make sure to have her write her handle on the receipt before we go and I'll do it."

We sat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying our food.

"These pancakes are really good, not as good as mine, but still," I commented.

"You cook?" He seemed surprised.

"Of course. Pancakes are kind of my specialty. I make them from scratch. They're amazing, if I do say so myself."

"I definitely want to try those at some point, then."

A few minutes passed in relative silence as we finished our meal. I glanced out the window and saw that the group of cameras had increased exponentially.

"There won't be but a couple that might follow us into the zoo," Harry informed me. "They aren't really all allowed in."

"Why not?"

"Can't be causing a disturbance."

"I'm sure there will be enough people that recognize you to get the word out on social media anyways."

"I think that's what Katherine's hoping for."

"I'm surprised our date isn't being monitored."

"Why do you say that?"

"Aren't Elounor usually being trailed by some chick from Modest!?"  
Harry glanced around to make sure no one had sat within earshot of us before answering. "That's just because they don't really trust Louis or Eleanor to be convincing enough without reminders. I mean, they don't really get along very well anymore."

"That's sad. I'd hoped they'd at least be friends."

"There's some story to it, but it'll have to wait for another time. I'm not sure how much Louis is comfortable with you knowing quite yet."

"Oh, okay. That's fine. I don't expect you to give me all of the dirt on the first date. That's more like fifth or sixth date material." I smiled.

"Someone's getting optimistic," he teased right back.

"I know when a boy wants me, what can I say?"

He laughed before waving our waitress over for our ticket.

I pulled my phone out as Harry slipped some bills out of his wallet. "Do you have Twitter?" I asked the girl.

"Uh, yeah, it's 'ziam5eva,'" she replied before spelling it out as I typed it into my phone. "Could I get a follow from you, too?" she hesitantly asked Harry.

"Of course," he grinned. "To be honest, I just followed her."

I let a look of mock disgust cross my face. "How dare you ask for my number and not my Twitter," I said before laughing. "Here, let me have your phone and I'll take you two's picture."

The girl, 'LeeAnn' her nametag said once I'd bothered to pay attention, quickly opened the camera on her phone and handed it over as Harry and I stood from the booth. Harry slipped his hand around her waist and smiled for the picture. I could tell the girl was about to have a heart attack from the contact. I clicked a few photos, just in case one didn't come out before demanding a silly picture.

"No, you should be in this one, too," LeeAnn said, pulling me over to the other side of her and taking her phone back. She quickly switched the camera around so she could get a good picture of us. With a moment's eye contact, Harry and I decided to act like we were zombies trying to eat her as she pretended to be possessed.

"Please please please tell me you're going to tweet that," I begged of her as soon as I saw how the picture had turned out, grinning at Harry and grabbing his hand again.

"Of course! It's adorable," she grinned. "Thanks so much."

"Off to the zoo we go?" I asked Harry.  
"Yeah, the car should be---" he looked out the windows. "Yeah, let's go."

"It was nice to meet you, LeeAnn."

"Nice to meet both of you," she smiled. "I'm sorry, I don't think I got your name?"

"Riley. It's fine. Hope you have a good rest of your day."

"Thanks!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments/kudos are appreciated. I have random bits of this done and am working to fill in the gaps because I can't seem to write anything in order.


	3. First Date part deux

"Oh my word, they are so cute," I squealed as we reached the penguin exhibit, quickly pulling up the camera on my phone.

"I don't get what it is about penguins. I mean--"

"They are adorable and look like they're dressed up for a party at all times and have you seen Mr. Popper's Penguins? Because you can't watch that and not fall in love with penguins," I interrupted Harry with a spiel of my penguin love.

"They're cute--"

"They're my favorite."

"But I'm gonna just stop." Harry laughed. "Clearly there's no arguing with you on this."

"Nope. Penguins are the absolute best," I affirmed. "Have you heard the theory about your favorite animal says something about yourself?"

"I can't say I have."

"I only point it out because I'm not the only one you know who has penguins as their favorite animal…"

"Yeah, Louis, what's your point?" he replied, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Penguins mate for life."

"It couldn't be their adorableness that he has in common with them?"

"Maybe that's what I have in common with them, but no, he's definitely a mate for life kind of guy, I think." I grinned, slipping my hand back into the crook of his arm as we continued to the sea lion exhibit.

"You're ridiculous." Harry shook his head with a grin.

"You love me. Well, you're going to. I'll make sure of it." I grinned back.

"I'm sorry, could I get a picture?" a young girl interrupted us. She looked to be around fifteen years old and completely awestruck that she just happened upon Harry Styles at the zoo.

"Of course, babe. Riley, do you mind taking it?" Harry smiled.

"Of course, babe," I replied with a smirk.

"Thank you so much," the girl gushed, handing me her phone.

"What's your name?" Harry asked her, leaning down and slipping his arm around her waist for the picture.

"Mariah," she said, breathlessly.

"Smile!" I brightly commanded as I snap a quick couple photos on her phone.

"Thank you so much," Mariah repeated, grinning up at Harry as she takes her phone back.

"No problem, it's nice to meet you," Harry smiled.

"Thank you," she insisted as she walked away.

"She was sweet," I commented as we continued our walk to the sea lions.

"That's going to happen a lot now," Harry commented as he smiled towards a trio of girls coming our way.

"That's okay," I shrugged. "I'd want to ask for a picture if I randomly saw you somewhere, too, so I can't really blame them."

"Hello, ladies," Harry greeted them.

"Hi, Harry!" they all responded with huge smiles on their faces. They were glancing my way with a question on their faces, but didn't seem willing to ask who I am or how I know Harry.

"Would you like a picture?" he asked.

"Yes, please" was the unanimous answer, of course. He smiled and posed with each girl, somehow making each of them feel like a million bucks.

"So, who are you? If you don't mind my asking," an outspoken girl moved over to ask me after getting her picture with Harry.

"Riley. And you are?" I asked, avoiding an answer simply because of the way she was looking at me.

"MaryAnn. I've never seen you before," she replied, continuing to stare me down.

"I haven't been around before. This is our first date." I smiled at her as her face drops for a millisecond before her eyes lit up.

"Can I get a picture of the two of you?"

"I - " I started to reply before Harry suddenly appeared with his arm around my waist.

"Only if you promise to post it," he answered her with a grin. "Gotta show off my gorgeous date."

"Don't," I playfully glared up at him.

He leaned in and licked the tip of my nose, causing me to jump back in surprise. Wiping my nose off, I glared again. "What was that?"

"A good picture." MaryAnn laughed, holding out her phone to show us. The other girls quickly crowded around to see it. She's caught the exact moment of contact and the look on my face was ridiculous.

"Candid photos are always better than posed," Harry commented, trying not to laugh at the picture.

I smacked him lightly in the shoulder. "Says the instigator."

He just smiled and turned back to the group of girls. "Ladies, it was lovely to meet you all, but we're going to have to continue or we aren't going to make it through the zoo before they close. There's a lot we still haven't seen."

They all quickly said their goodbyes and thank yous before Harry took my hand and led me on to the sea lions.

"She's gonna gain a lot of followers on Twitter," I commented as soon as we're out of earshot.

"I'm sure that's what she was wanting."

"Pictures or it didn't happen, right?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fan pictures have more cred than pap pictures when it comes to this kind of stuff. Those girls are going to get asked all kinds of stuff about you," he replied with a  shrug. "It's good for publicity."

"Fans trust other fans more than reporters. It makes sense," I nodded. "They know the reporters are being paid for whatever they're writing."

"I don't think we'll have to stay here much longer, if you're ready to go home. We've seen just about everything and we've been seen by just about everyone."

"People are still gonna know."

"There's always going to be people who pay attention; we just have to make sure most of the world believes that I'm with you."

"For now."

He looked at me suspiciously. "For the foreseeable future."

"No, no. I know. I just meant someday," I assured him. "God willing."

He laughed, but it was a sad laugh. A hollowed out laugh that made my insides hurt because it sounds like something that he tried to make a joke out of, like how people laugh at a funeral. He wants to, but he just can't.

I stop and wrap my arms around him in a quick tight hug. "It'll all work out."

"I know," he replies with a sad smile and we continue on our way to the sea lions.

 

\---

 

"Is it convincing?" I asked into the phone. "Does she like us?"

"I haven't heard from her yet, but Louis thinks it looks convincing enough," Harry replied.

"How is he?"

"He's fine."

"No, really."

"It's just different. He's fine. He's dealing," Harry assured me.

"It sucks."

"Yeah, it does."

"You think they'd ever let allow him and Eleanor to split?"

"Honestly? No. They may be getting me into a relationship for our public image, but they've always thought Lou was the more vulnerable one. Out of the five of us, he's the one that 'looks' gay--"

"Seriously?" I interrupted, surprised.

"Yeah, they think about these things, so he has to constantly have a beard. And they gave me the 'player' image to distract from the fact that I'm gay, too."

"That's always pissed me off more than Louis and Eleanor's relationship. The fact that there's a decent part of the world that actually believes that you are a jerk and don't know how to treat women has always bothered me."

"Well, if this goes well, you'll be changing that image for me," he replied and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yay for that," I grinned. A beep sounded in my ear, alerting me of another call. "I'm gonna have to let you go, I've got another call, hopefully it's Katherine in rapture of how great a couple we make."

"Let me know what she says," is the only response I receive before he hangs up and I switch to the other call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Riley?"

"Yes."

"Hi, this is Martha, I'm Katherine's assistant. She wanted me to call and let you know that you are expected to attend the Ed Sheeran concert with Harry tomorrow evening."

"Great," I replied with a smile.

"She also wanted you to check your availability next month. She'll be talking to you soon."

"Okay, that sounds great."

"Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Have a good day."

"Thank you," I replied before hanging up.

"Ed Sheeran concert tomorrow?!" I quickly texted Harry.

 

 


	4. Another Concert

"I couldn't afford tickets to this concert. I had to chose between you guys and Ed Sheeran. It was awful," I babbled as we walked backstage.

"I'm honored," Harry replied, sarcastically.

"You should be - he is amazing." I slapped his shoulder. "Have you guys ever tried writing together?"

Harry looked at me in surprise.

"He's a good songwriter, you're a good songwriter…"

"Thanks, but it hasn't happened yet." He shrugged.

"Well, you already blew the opportunity to write with Taylor--"

"Shut up!" he exclaimed, grinning. "That was not my fault. Not entirely my fault."

"You should've wrote a song with her when you had a chance. I mean, Ed's song with her is amazing. At least you won't end up dating and breaking up with Ed. You can't screw up that opportunity."

"So your advice is to never 'date' any more songwriters." He quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Yes. Exactly." I grinned.

"So I should just 'date' you."

"Obviously."

"Hey, Harry, how's it goin'?" Ed asked as we reached his dressing room. "Who is this?"

"Riley," I replied with a smile. "I’m a huge fan. Your music is incredible."

"Thank you," he grinned, shooting a curious look towards Harry.

"She's soon to become my new girlfriend," he explained with a shrug.

"Such a gentleman, ain't he?"

"We're working on that," I playfully glared at Harry.

"She's also demanding I never date another songwriter ever again, I assume this excludes my boyfriend?" He paused.

"Obviously," I agreed.

"And that it's a good thing I can never date you," Harry told him.

Ed laughed. "I like this one."

"So far, so good."

"Hey could you take a picture for me?" Ed asked one of the women flitting about the room getting things ready. "I'm sure your management will love this," he added as he positioned himself between Harry and I for a picture.

"Katherine will love it. What's the caption?" I asked as he took his phone back and opened Instagram.

"'How long can you keep this one, @harrystyles?'"

"Mouthy, I like it." I chuckled.

We talked for a few more minutes before finding our way to our seats for the show.

"We've been spotted," Harry muttered in my ear, gesturing back and to the our left. I adjusted my hair over my shoulder and glanced up to see a group of about five girls gesturing excitedly in our direction.

I leaned in and muttered in his ear, "Put your arm around me. Make this convincing." The opening act was good, but not many people were standing up for the show yet. Harry obediently slipped his arm around the back of my chair. "The whole point is to be seen, isn't it?"

"Of course. Make the pictures tell a story, right?" We were leaning in to talk to each other - not entirely because of the noise, but because we knew it would appear much more intimate. Katherine had actually given me notes about how to make this convincing - Harry and I had laughed about them in the car on the way over. We made note of the suggestions, though, knowing every little thing could help.

"How fast do you think she'll have you coming for another round of dates after I leave tomorrow?"

"They mentioned next month, but I have no idea."

"We have a couple weeks off in about five weeks. She may be thinking of us doing something around that time."

"Did you guys have any plans?"

"I'll probably go to LA while Louis supposedly goes home."

"Do you two really have a place there?" I asked, curious.

"We don't own it, but we're in the process of buying it, now. We've been renting it pretty consistently," he admitted.

"Is it easy to disappear there?"

"In LA? Yes. Once you learn the tricks, it's easy to disappear and blend into the city."

"Is that why you spend so much time there?"

"That and there's a tattoo artist there that I like," he replied.

"Once we know each other better, I'm going to ask about the tattoos, but I imagine it's a very personal question and you don't know me very well yet."

"But I'm going to have to get to know you a lot better for the sake of the image, so prepare for twenty questions via text during the next month."

I laughed. "Okay, as long as I get to ask questions, too."

"Of course. We're in a 'relationship'. We have to get to know each other."

"Is Katherine going to, like, demand PDA from us at some point? Or can we just do our own thing with that?"

Harry grinned and leaned in close to place a quick kiss on my cheek. I blushed, of course. God, he's adorable.

"Does that mean Katherine won't say anything? Or is that so that Katherine won't say anything?"

"Both? I don't think she'd say anything, but that should put her mind at ease for the time being."

"The three of us will definitely need to have a conversation about this at a future date."

"We've talked about it before, but we'll discuss it again with you," he agreed.

"Okay, good, I don't want to do anything to offend or something."

"You're doing great, don't worry so much."

 

 

\------

 

 

"Lie down with me. And hold me in your arms," Ed sang from the stage. Harry moved himself behind me, wrapping his arms around me and whispering a quick "Just go with it" in my ear before he started swaying us to the music. His mouth was still right next to my ear and I could hear him singing along every couple words. The grin on my face had to look ridiculous, but I couldn't help it with Harry singing in my ear.

"Your heart's against my chest. Lips pressed to my neck. I'm fallin' for your eyes, but they don't know me yet," Harry sang along with Ed. I turn slightly to check the look on his face. His eyes were closed, but he was smiling softly as he continued to sing along.

"This feels like falling in love. Falling in love. Falling in love."

"You sure know how to make a girl swoon on a second date," I muttered in his direction. His only response was to lean in and place a light kiss upon my neck. I sighed and bit my lip in a nervous habit. He’s too good at this acting thing. I glanced over to see the teasing light in his eyes and elbowed him lightly in the ribs in retaliation as we continued to sway to the song, appearing ever the perfectly enraptured couple.

 

 

\------

 

 

Well done last night.

 

I woke up to Katherine's text and was tempted to throw the phone across the room.

 

It's fine.

 

From Louis. It's like he knew I was about to text and ask if he was okay with the pictures of Harry and I that were bound to be circling the web by now.

 

**_I'm sure he made it up to you ;)_ **

 

I replied after a few moments thought. Better to go with playing it off than make him more upset.

 

Like he had a choice.

 

I laughed out loud, imagining Louis's smirk as he typed that response.

 

_**What are you guys doing today?** _

**Relaxing at the hotel.**

_**Leaving tomorrow, right?** _

**Yes. Bus leaves early in the am.**

**_I've got a few errands to run this morning, but can I come by around lunch?_ **

**I'll make sure H is here.**

 

\------

 

_What room are you guys in?_

 

I texted Harry as I parked outside their hotel. It wasn't like I could just walk up to the front desk and ask where One Direction was staying. They'd laugh in my face.

I stayed in the car, waiting a few minutes for a response. Just as I was about to text Louis, he responded.

 

**7th floor. I'm in Niall's. 743.**

 

I got out of the car, grabbed my purse and locked it before approaching the front entrance. It was a hotel nicer than I'd ever stayed in. There were a lot of fans surrounding the building with signs and screaming. I ignored them, assuming they'd ignore me as well.

As approached the few steps up to the doors, I heard someone scream my name and turned. A few girls ran up to me.

"Are you here to see Harry?"

More girls crowded in, asking their questions.

"He deserves better than you."

"Can you get us in to meet them?"

"She's not even that pretty."

"How'd you meet?"

I apologized and started backing my way up the steps.

"Harry's in love with Louis, you don't even have a chance."

"Can you give him this?"

"Can you get them to come out?"

"Harry belongs with Taylor."

"You aren't even pretty enough for him."

"He could do so much better."

"Can you give him this?"

"Can you tell him I said hi?"

"Can you get him to follow me on Twitter?"

"Do you have a Twitter?"

I shot a quick look towards a guy who appeared to be a security guard as I continued to try to make my way to the door. He, luckily, took pity on me.

"Girls, back up. She just needs to get into the building," he called. The girls continued to yell things at me as I turned and quickly walked inside.

 

\------

 

"Harry said he was in here?" I asked the guy that answered 743's door.

"Oh, you must be Riley, come on in," he replied, pulling the door open further and gesturing me inside.

"Hey, babe." Harry glanced up from where he was sitting on the floor on his laptop next to Niall.

"Hey," I replied, hesitantly looking around the room. The guy who had answered the door offered no explanation as to who he was and there was another guy that looked like someone in their band I thought. I sat my purse on the bed and walked over to slide down the wall to sit next to Harry. "What's up?"

"Plotting," Niall muttered, pointing out something on the laptop screen to Harry.

"By the way, Niall - Riley; Riley - Niall." Harry quickly gestured between us without taking his eyes off of the screen.

"Can I ask what you're plotting?"

"Pranking Zayn and Liam." I focused on the laptop screen, realizing that they were reading about random pranks.

"Why those two? What about Louis?"

"Zayn and Li are sharing a room here, so it's more convenient," Niall replied.

"And why isn't Louis in on plotting?"

"He's asleep," Harry shrugged.

I pointed out one of the pranks on the screen:

 

**_Blow-Dryer Prank_ **

_Here is a good prank that played on my sister. What you do is take baby powder and you put it in someone's blow-dryer. When they turn it on, they will get a head full of powder. It is a great laugh._

 

"We've already done that one before," Niall replied, pointing to another one:

 

**_Orajel Prankd_ **

_For this funny prank, take one of those small travel sized tubes of regular toothpaste and empty it completely, then refill the empty tube with an entire tube of Orajel (you know that stuff that people use to numb canker soars and tooth aches). If done correctly the next time anyone uses that tube of toothpaste they will surprisingly find that their entire mouth is completely numb. The prank will last about 15 minutes or so. That's plenty of time to enjoy it._

 

"That one," he said. "That's what we should do."

"How are we getting them out of their room to do this?" I asked.

"Well, if you're willing to be in on this, we can call a 'band meeting' and you can slip in and do it," Harry told me. "I've got their room key, swiped it out of Liam's pocket earlier."

"Do you have Orajel on hand?"

"No. We'll have to go buy that."

"I'm sure that'll be real easy with all of the girls outside right now."

"One of us can slip out with you - "

"They recognized me on the way in."

"They did? Katherine will be happy to hear that." Harry grinned.

"Why don't we go out for lunch and get it while we're out? That way we aren't 'sneaking out'?"

"Another date?" Harry replied, skeptically.

"No, Niall and Louis will come, too. It'll show that I get along with the band. You want me to be the perfect girlfriend, right? That includes spending time with your best mates."

"That'll get eyes off of Zayn and Liam if they want to go out for anything, too," Niall conceded.

"And if they're still gone when we get back, we can slip in or if they're here, we could try to get them to cause a distraction while we slip inside and I can sneak into their room as they leave it."

"I like you." Niall grinned.

"She's taken," Harry laughed. "I'll go see if Lou's up."

 

\-----

 


	5. Applebee's and a Prank

"Have you seen the crowd outside?" Louis asked upon entering Niall's room. "We're going out in that together?"

"Well, I mean, you two could leave ahead of us, I guess," I replied, glancing around the room uncomfortably.

"No, no, I didn't say that. Together or not at all at this point."

"Where are we going?"

"There's no Nandos here, Niall."

"What are you in the mood for, dear?" I asked Louis. He was acting put out upon being woken up even though we could tell it was just because he couldn't stay in bed with Harry. It'd already taken half an hour for them to come back down the hall.

"I don't know, _darling_." He batted his eyelashes at me. "What do _you_ want?"

"A burger sounds great but that doesn't necessarily narrow it down much…oh, there's an Applebee's just down the road, we could probably walk?"

"And not escape the crowd outside at all?"

"There's only so many people that could fit into that Applebee's."

"Will we even be able to get a table?"

"I'll call ahead," I replied, pulling up Google on my phone to find their phone number. "Can't you make it look like you're somewhere else on Twitter or something?"

"What d'you mean?" Niall asked.

"Like Harry pulls all those disappearing acts by getting people to wait on posting pictures of him. Or when pictures are posted that aren't even your pictures, they're from a Google search."

"That only works when we aren't even all in the same country," Harry muttered.

I dialed Applebee's and finally got through. "Yes, I was wondering how long the wait for a table is right now?...There'll be four of us….Okay, is there a way we could get a place away from the windows?...Okay, yes, my name's Riley…okay, thank you." I hung up the phone. "There will be a table ready in thirty minutes which is how long it will take us to get down the block with all the girls outside, I'm sure."

"Zayn and Liam might appreciate us dragging the crowd away," Niall said, typing something onto his phone.

"Is Applebee's okay?"

"It's fine, babe, let's go."

"I'll run into the store that's just a couple down from here on the way back," I tell Niall and Harry in the elevator.

"Who are you texting?" Harry asks Louis.

"Security. I gathered none of you thought to inform them that we're heading out into the masses."

"Oops."

"They've got people downstairs already, no worries."

"We're kind of getting a bit more of a free pass with Riley here, we've got to take advantage of it," Niall points out.  
"Please don't ever refer to me as a free pass again," I playfully glare at Niall.

"You know what I meant." He punches me lightly on the shoulder.

"Now, should I be clingy or should I just back off out there?" I ask as security opens the front doors.

Louis steps in closer to me so I can hear him over the noise. "Stay close to him, but don't interfere with pictures and stuff between him and the fans. Hold his hand as much as you can."

I nod my understanding and slip my fingers through Harry's as we walk out to hundreds of screams.

The three of them stay together and start walking in the direction of Applebee's, stopping to sign things and take pictures with the fans who were only being contained by actual security guards holding them back.

"Everybody stay calm and we'll get as many of you as we can," Harry spoke loudly. "But you've got to stay calm."

Harry made a little smile at me as he switched me around to his other side to hold his left hand so he'd have his right free to write with.

"Is this your girlfriend, Harry?" a blonde girl asked.

"Yes," he smiled in my direction. "She is as long as she'll keep me."

"How did you two meet?" another blonde girl asked.

"Meet and greet before the concert the other night," I smiled as I heard gasps in the crowd. I knew what they were thinking. Wow, they really would date a fan.

"Niall, will you marry me?" I heard a voice call out.

"Sorry, love, me mum wouldn't be too happy if I got engaged without telling her!" Niall called back without missing a beat. The crowd chuckled.

"Louis, how's Eleanor?" I heard another voice saying.

"I love you, Harry!"

"I love you!"

"Kiss me, Niall!"

"You deserve better, Harry!"

"I love you, Louis!"

 

\-----

 

We made it to the Applebee's in just over the half hour we anticipated. The hostess at the door stared in shock as Niall walked up to her and asked if the table for Riley was ready.

"Y-yes, r-right this w-way," she stuttered, grabbing the menus and leading us towards the back wall. "I hope a b-booth is okay."

"This looks great," Harry replied, sliding into one side. "Thank you."

"Your waitress will be r-right out," she replied, refusing to make eye contact with any of them. Probably afraid of drowning in their gorgeous eyes, I chuckled to myself.

"That wasn't so bad," I commented after our hostess had escaped.

"All you had to do was stand there and hold Harry's hand," Louis laughed.

"It only took a little over half an hour to get here, though," I reminded him.

"Indeed."

"Still, it wasn't _that_ bad, right? Did I drag all three of you into something you didn't want to do? Really?"

"I'm not a fan of crowds, but security made it go pretty smoothly," Niall replied.

"Does it totally suck having to have security go everywhere with you?" I asked.

"They don't go _everywhere_ with us," Louis amended. "When we're on tour, though, they kind of have to escort us a lot."

"It's not that bad. We've kind of learned how to sneak out. Security usually knows we're sneaking out and is on call if we need them," Harry said. "It's not really that you can't go out alone anymore; it's just that you have to be a lot more creative when going out alone."

"But no hoodies and sunglasses, right?"

"We have used that as a distraction from the people that are actually sneaking out, but that's not a good way to sneak out."

"Because no one really dresses like that on a regular basis. It pretty much screams 'I don't want you to notice me.'"

"So, Niall, do you have a girlfriend?"

He laughed. "No, Miss Riley, I do not. I have dates with girls, no girlfriend at the moment."

"Afraid of commitment?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

Louis and Harry chuckle. "I think everyone else in the band has enough commitment with their girls, I don't particularly feel the need to be committed. I'm only nineteen."

"You're almost twenty, though. Your teenage years are coming to a close."

"Haven't found the right girl, what can I say?"

"Alright, I guess I can accept that."

"You're only twenty-one, babe. You weren't in a relationship until a few days ago," Harry pointed out.

"Niall hasn't appeared to be in a relationship since the band started, though."

"You've been in a relationship in the last few years? Oh, do tell."

"No, but I'm in one now, so I'm enjoying attacking all the single people with stupid questions like I have been."

"Hi, I'm Kelsey. I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you out with some drinks?"

"Water, please," I replied.

"Water."

"Water."

"Water."

"I'll get those drinks and be right back to take your order."

"She's pretty," I comment with a pointed look at Niall.

He rolls his eyes. "And I'm leaving in less than 24 hours."

"Point taken."

We chatter and joke about nonsense for a little over an hour while eating before trudging our way back down the street. I dunked into the little store next to their hotel and bought a tube of Orajel before grabbing the key from Harry to head up ahead of them.

Zayn and Liam had gone to do a little shopping while we were out, so they weren't in their room when I got there. I quickly swapped out their toothpaste with the Orajel (which took a little longer than I would've liked) and was about to leave when I heard them enter. I jumped into the shower to hide and quickly muted my phone to text Harry SOS.

"Perrie can't know about this," I heard Zayn say. It was hard to not eavesdrop when I was hoping they'd leave so I could get out.

"Nobody will know, babe," Liam replied. My eyes were huge as I pondered where this conversation was going.

"It was only supposed to be one night," Zayn mumbled. I heard them moving across the room and then someone sitting on the bed.

"We can stop whenever you want." I heard another body hit the bed.

"I don't think I want to stop."

I heard kissing sounds and then the shower curtain was suddenly whipped back and Niall snapped a picture with his phone.

"Gotcha!" he laughed.

"Oh my god, that was a joke?"

Harry and Louis peaked into the bathroom with matching grins.

"Oh my god, I thought - "

"Oh, we know what you thought, love," Zayn's voice replied.

I laughed. "I can't believe you just did that. Was this planned the whole time? I thought you two weren't supposed to be back yet!"

"We ran into them downstairs," Niall replied. He was still grinning ear to ear.

"We asked what they'd sent you to do, knowing that you'd gone to lunch with them," Liam added.

"And we decided to switch the whole thing around on you."

"We weren't sure if you'd be able to hear five of us walking into the room, but were hoping you'd be shocked enough by anyone coming in that you wouldn't notice."

"Well, this is a great way to re-meet you."

"This is part one of your initiation. The other part will have to wait until next time we're all together." Niall smirked.

"Making me believe there's not only one secret relationship in One Direction. Yeah, that's a great part one. What's part two?"

"Part one is being pranked. Part two is getting drunk and revealing all of your secrets. Both parts don't necessarily have to be all five of us."

"We'll get you drunk in LA, babe." Harry grinned with a look towards Louis.

"Okay, I think I can handle that…"

"I want to see the girl drunk!" Niall interjected.

"I think Niall has accepted you into the group."

"He doesn't seem very hard to convince."

"He's not." Zayn laughed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is written and ready to post, so I'll probably put it up tomorrow or the next day. Comments and kudos are always appreciated :) Thanks for reading.


	6. Another Contract

"Katherine wants to meet with us this evening. She said eight o'clock in the bar downstairs."

"Is this a good thing? Am I going to be signing a long-term contract?" I asked, glancing between Harry and Louis.

"She spoke to me earlier about it and I told her she'd better be having you sign long-term," Harry replied.

"How long does Eleanor's contract go for?" I asked. We were relaxing in their hotel room, Niall and Louis on the floor playing FIFA, Harry laying on the bed next to me watching them.

"Her current one expires towards the end of next year, but I'm sure her father will convince her to sign another."

"Why? Who's her dad?"

"He's one of the higher ups at Modest! and is the one that offered his daughter up on a platter when the idea of a beard for Louis was first presented."

"She doesn't seem very into it."

"She's not. Her father is paying for her college and everything else right now and the only extra money she gets is from Modest!, so she can't really quit."

"Her and Louis barely seem to get along."

"They try."

"She doesn't," Louis interjects from the floor.

"Well, they don't really like each other."

"When will I get to meet her?"

"Hopefully never," Louis mutters from the floor.

"Louis - "

"What, Harry? She's a bitch. You know how she acts towards me."

"We don't get a lot of warning before they fly her in for a date."

"Maybe in London, then."

"Yeah, maybe."

 

\-----

 

At ten 'til eight o'clock that evening, Harry and I took the elevator down to the bar to meet with Katherine. She had a table reserved in the corner so that we wouldn't be overheard. If anyone spotted us, we were just going to tell people it was a privacy agreement. I'd be spending a lot of time with the band as Harry's girlfriend, so they'd have to have me sign a nondisclosure agreement anyways.

"Riley, Harry, lovely to see you both," Katherine greeted us. "This is my assistant, Martha, I believe you've spoken with her on the phone?"

"Yes, nice to meet you," I shook her hand.

"You'll be in contact with Martha a lot, so I wanted to introduce you all," Katherine explained as we all sat down. "She'll be the one monitoring your relationship's progress."

"We don't need a babysitter," Harry muttered.

"She won't be accompanying you anywhere, unless you aren't behaving as you should. As long as you two are behaving appropriately, she'll just organize your schedules to meet and date and be photographed."

"Okay, when and where will I be seeing Harry next?"

"It won't be until next month. The boys have a few weeks off at the end of August. I propose flying you to LA for one of their shows there on the ninth or tenth and then you can stay as long as you like. Harry seems to like LA, so I figured he'd be staying for a few days at least before flying home."

"Yeah, I was thinking I'd stay for a week after, so she can stay until I leave."

"Perfect."

"What do I have to sign?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, here, this is pretty much identical to your first one, it's just going to be longer term."

"How long?" Harry asked, stopping me from immediately signing what they were putting in front of me.

"It's set to expire a month after Eleanor's current one. That would be a good time to reevaluate the band's image," Katherine assured him.

"Are you going to actually let hers expire?"

"That will be discussed when the time comes."

"Go ahead, Riley." He gestured for me to go ahead and sign.

I quickly skimmed through the pages, making sure it all looked the same as the prior contract. I stopped when I reached a section that appeared to have been added in.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, pointing the section out to Harry. He quickly read it and laughed.

"You want her to sign a contract that says she isn't allowed to ' _gain weight, dye her hair an unnatural color, or get any tattoos_ '?" Harry asked, skeptical.

"We want her to remain very clean-cut in appearance."

"She's dating me. I'm covered in tattoos. You've got to be kidding me. Take that out."

"She needs to appear - "

"Take. It. Out." He handed the papers to Katherine. "She's not signing that."

"I must insist - "

"No, _I_ must insist. She's signing to be my girlfriend; you've got no right to control what she does to her body. She's a gorgeous girl and I promise we'll be sure she dresses appropriately for any event that she is to attend with me, but you can't put _those_ terms into any contract that I'm going to let her sign." He'd kept his voice at a steady level, but his eyes were flashing in anger.

"Fine, we'll take it out," Katherine replied, tersely. She crossed out the offensive section and initialed next to it before handing it back to me.

I flipped through the remaining pages and, satisfied, I signed the dotted line.

"I want a copy of that for myself and her before the end of tonight," Harry said, rising from his seat.

"Yes, sir, I'll drop them at your room myself."

"If that's all?"

"Yes, Martha will be in touch with details about LA."

"Thank you, have a lovely evening. Riley?"

I quickly wished them a good evening and rose to grab his offered hand. He led me back over to the front desk, where he ordered room service to his room and then to the elevator.

"I can't believe she actually tried to pull one over on us," he muttered angrily as soon as the doors closed.

"I'm glad I caught it."

"I would've petitioned it if you hadn't. They said it was just like the other one and I know there was nothing like that in it."

"No, I read the other one through pretty carefully."

He growled slightly in anger again before the elevator doors opened to his floor.

 

\----

 

"We're going to text a lot, right?" I asked Louis and Harry.

"Yeah, of course," Harry replied.

"I know we aren't really 'dating' but I want to be friends - "

"We are friends, love," Louis assured me. "If nothing else, you've definitely gained our friendship by signing onto this crazy scheme."

"Okay, well, I just don't want to go a month without talking at all. Even just texts back and forth randomly."

"Yeah, we'll keep in touch."

"Definitely, love."

"Okay, well, I guess this is see you later then." I quickly hugged Louis. Harry was taking me down to the lobby for a public farewell. "I'll text you a lot, okay, don't be freaked out if I'm just texting you stupid jokes when I'm bored."

"Deal. I'll tell you Harry's stupid jokes."

"Heyy," Harry interjected with a frown.

"You know I love them."

"I promise to laugh."

"Alright, love, off you go." Louis ushered us to the elevator.

I waved as the elevator doors closed.

"Okay, how are we going to do this?"

"Just go with it, okay?" Harry replied with a small smile.

"I don't like 'just go with it.' I like a plan. Even a brief barely thought out plan."

"I've got this. It's fine," he assured me.

"Okay. Well, are we saying goodbye in the lobby or are you walking me to my car?"

"I'll walk you to your car."

"Are you sure? It's still pretty crazy out there."

"The parking lot is off limits to fans. It'll be fine."

"Okay," I replied as the elevator doors opened to the lobby. He slipped his fingers through mine and squeezed reassuringly. "Okay."

"Follow my lead."

I nodded. He lead me over to the doors, muttered something to one of the security guys and then followed him outside. I nervously readjusted my purse on my shoulder as the chorus of screams welcomed us to the out of doors. He leaned in close so I'd be able to hear him.

"Ignore them. Okay? Just act like this is your boyfriend walking you to your car to say goodbye for now, okay?"

I smiled and nodded, slipping my hand out of his and into the crook of his arm so that it'd be easier to walk close together and be able to hear each other over the screams.

"Don't go picking up any other fans while you're gone, alright?" I teased him.

He laughed. "I wouldn't think of it, babe."

We reached my car pretty quickly and stood at the open door for a moment after I tossed my purse inside.

"I'm gonna miss you," I admitted, looking up into his gorgeous eyes.

"It's only a month. I'll see you in LA; I'll show you the sights."

"You'll be quite the sight to see."

"Maybe we'll get you a tattoo." He grinned.

"Maybe we won't."

"Drive safe, okay?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"Text me later."

"Okay."

He leaned in and kissed me. I'd like to say that Harry Styles was a shit kisser or something of that sort, but damn that boy could kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer for a moment before he let go. The crowd was screaming louder now. He hadn't even gotten his tongue into my mouth and I was still seeing stars.

"For luck?" he grinned.

I leaned in for one more small kiss before pushing him in the direction of his hotel. "Go be a rock star. I'll see you in a month."

He grinned and turned to sprint back towards the hotel doors and inside. I stood there for a moment, contemplating how this had become my life and how unfair it was that he was a good kisser on top of everything else before getting into my car and driving home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is planned out in my head to some extent, just have to get it typed out. Comments and kudos encourage me :) I plan to have the next chapter up within the week if not in the next couple days.


	7. A Month of Texting

_Louis_ , Riley, **Harry**

 

 

_11:08PM: That's quite the show you two put on out there_

11:10PM: H likes to surprise me.

11:11PM: Also, did you teach him to kiss like that?

_11:13PM: Of course. I'm a great kisser._

11:15PM: But really, it was okay?

_11:16PM: You don't have to ask if I'm okay every time you kiss him._

11:18PM: I feel like I'm aiding him in cheating on you.

11:19PM: But it was convincing?

_11:20PM: You looked pleasantly surprised and smitten so yes._

11:25PM: Good.

11:26PM: He's a better actor than I thought.

 

**9:04AM: L thought I mightve went over the top last nite**

9:15AM: He told me it was convincing.

**9:34AM: You said I was a good kisser? ;D**

9:35AM: L taught you well.

**9:35AM: He did not.**

9:37AM: No way you taught yourself that.

**9:39AM: Practice makes perfect.**

9:41AM: I didn't think I could be more jealous of Louis Tomlinson.

9:43AM: Life just isn't fair.

 

_11:03AM: Here goes our first interview since you two started dating…_

11:05AM: Is he really going to confirm us this fast?

_11:07AM: That's kind of the point, love_

11:11AM: It'd be a bit more convincing if he put it off.

11:12AM: Say we're just getting to know each other.

11:12AM: Don't throw around the term 'girlfriend' quite yet

_11:14AM: You think so?_

11:16AM: As a member of this fandom, yes.

_11:17AM: I'll mention it to H_

 

**11:25AM: Katherine won't be happy.**

11:26AM: I know this fandom better than her.

11:26AM: Trust me.

11:27AM: Pictures speak louder than words anyways

 

4:04PM: I just saw the interview. Very convincing, I think.

**4:15PM: Katherine saw your side once I pointed out that the fans thought it was cute that I was being secretive about it.**

4:20PM: It was kind of cute :)

 

**12:40PM: I had no less than five different people tell me that we made a cute couple today.**

12:45PM: I finally told my parents. They didn't believe me until I showed them actual pics.

12:46PM: It was almost like convincing fangirls of something.

12:46PM: Pic or it didn't happen

**12:55PM: When do I get to meet your lovely parents, then?**

1:05PM: Whenever you come to Chicago, instead of me flying to wherever you are, of course.

**1:10PM: Are we a real couple to them or do they know the whole story?**

1:11PM: We're the real deal. I figure the fewer people who know the better.

1:14PM: My best friend is the only one that's going to know the whole story on my end.

 

2:15PM: Don't be letting H get set up with any new girl at the meet n greet today ;D

_2:19PM: As if._

2:24PM: I don't think you need to be going to get a new girl or anything, but getting touchy feely with some pretty ones might give H a taste of what you've been going thru… haha

_2:26PM: Hmmm…I'll consider it_

 

**7:03PM: Did you seriously give L the idea of getting back at me for kissing you?**

7:05PM: I might have.

7:11PM: What'd he do?

**7:13PM: Well, let's just say he made a girl faint.**

7:14PM: WHAT? OHMYGOD WHAT'D HE DO?

 

7:15PM: WHAT DID YOU DO TO THAT POOR GIRL?

_7:16PM: I just leaned in to smell her perfume._

_7:16PM: While looking at H_

_7:17PM: And she fainted into Li's arms._

_7:18PM: She was cute, tho, I think Li kind of wanted to thank me._

7:19PM: I said touchy feely! Not completely invading a girl's personal space.

7:19PM: You've clearly never been told how good YOU smell.

_7:20PM: She was fine. Is. She is fine._

 

**7:21PM: I already reminded him who he belongs to. ;)**

7:25PM: Don't do anything stupid on stage tonight.

**7:27PM: Who me? ;)**

 

10:14AM: What's your favorite color?

**11:01AM: No good morning?**

**11:02AM: Orange.**

11:10AM: Movie?

**11:14AM: Love Actually.**

11:17AM: Super power?

**11:20AM: Time travel.**

**11:22AM: And you??? :)**

11:25AM: Blue, Parent Trap, teleport

11:28AM: And GOOD MORNING :D

 

_9:42AM: What do you do for a living?_

_9:44AM: I can't believe I've known you for a week and haven't asked._

9:49AM: Sales person in a bookstore.

9:52AM: Pay is decent. I like it.

_10:04AM: Read a lot?_

10:14AM: Quite a bit, yeah

_10:18AM: Favorite book?_

10:24AM: That's like asking a mother her favorite child.

10:25AM: Fifty Shades of Grey ;)

_10:30AM: Please tell me your joking_

10:31AM: Of course I'm joking

10:32AM: Harry Potter tops my list, always

10:33AM: Followed by fault in our stars, pride and prejudice…

_10:35AM: Somebody gave me fault in our stars and I've never bothered to read it_

10:41AM: Well, get on it. Read it. And then make Harry read it.

_10:44AM: H says I got it from one of my sisters_

10:48AM: Seriously, tho, read it.

 

_7:04PM: Why the fuck did you tel lme to read this_

7:06PM: Augustus?

_7:08PM: I have to be on stage soon and I'm sitting here sobbing over a fictional character's death_

_7:10PM: How could you do this to me_

7:12PM: It’s a beautiful sad that just can't be explained.

7:14PM: Call me when you've got your emotions under control. :)

7:15PM: and DONT spoil it for H

 

_11:58PM: H just finished_

_11:59PM: He's sobbing into my shoulder_

_12:01AM: He says he's buying it for every single person he knows_

_12:03AM: And he's blaming you_

_12:10AM: Everyone should feel the beautiful torture of this book_

7:02AM: I know, right?

 

**9:10AM: Has Martha called u?**

9:12AM: Nope. Why?

**9:15AM: We kind of…well, I just thought they might make a last minute decision to fly you in**

**9:16AM: For beard coverage.**

9:18AM: What did you do?

**9:20AM: It wasn't just on elittle thing, we just**

**9:20AM: Well, El is flying in, that's why I wondered.**

9:23AM: El is always flown in after you 2 slip up.

**9:25AM: We were honestly hoping it'd be you rather than her :(**

9:27AM: We'll put on a good show in LA and make sure that next time it is. :)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this isn't meant to be a thorough representation of all the texts back and forth between them for an entire month's time, just the highlights to show time passing and them getting to know each other. LA is up next! And I hope to have it up next week. Comments and kudos inspire me to write quicker!


	8. Off to LA

"Hey, babe, long time no see," Harry greeted me with a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you," I smiled.

"How was your flight?" He asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"Good," I replied as we walked towards baggage claim. "Have you been spotted here yet?"

"Not yet. I've been blending."

I laughed. "Covering up a good portion of the tattoos and your hair kind of helps." He had wrangled his curls under a beanie hat and was wearing a long sleeved grey thermal.

"You aren't exactly undercover though."

"I don't think I need to be undercover." I gave him a weird look. "I'm not that recognizable."

"I have been here for an hour and haven't been seen. You've been here for five minutes and that girl over there just gave us a second look."

"Well, don't look at her," I scolded as he nodded towards a teenager to our left.

Baggage claim was a huge crowded mess. We almost missed my suitcase going by, but an older gentleman luckily saw me running over for it. He only chuckled as I thanked him. Unfortunately, I had left Harry alone for approximately thirty seconds and he'd been recognized. I came back to see him with a crowd of about twenty girls all scrambling to take pictures of him and with him.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" one girl asked.

He grinned and nodded as I came up. "Came to pick up my girl."

All of the girls turned their heads in unison to look at me and immediately started freaking out even more. _What the hell, I'm just the girlfriend._

"Did you get your bag?" Harry asked me between photos.

"Yeah, I'm all set."

"Are you two really together?" a girl asked, looking between us.

"As together as you can be when half of the relationship is a rock star touring the world," I grinned in Harry's direction.

"Riley," Harry said in a surprised tone. "I had no idea you were a rock star."

I laughed. "I started a rock band while you were working, I thought I'd told you."

"I wasn't aware you could sing," he teased as he posed for another picture with a fan.

"Who said I was singing? I'm totally the drummer."

He rolled his eyes and continued talking to the girls surrounding him.

"How did you guys meet?" a blonde girl near me asked.

"At a meet and greet before one of his concerts."

"Seriously?!" another girl squealed at my answer.

"Yeah, apparently they weren't kidding when they said they'd date a fan," I grinned.

"Can I get a picture of the two of you?" I heard someone ask.

"Oh, please, no, I just got off a plane, I look gross," I frowned as Harry pulled me towards him.

"You look great," he muttered, pushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. "Just smile."

I rolled my eyes and looked towards one of the phones pointed towards us.

"Alright, ladies, I think I better take her to shower," Harry said, grabbing my suitcase.

"Thanks for that." I playfully glared at him.

"I didn't mean -"

"Right."

"Everyone likes a nice shower after they've spent any amount of time on an airplane."

 

\----

 

"Wait, you're actually staying at a hotel? I thought you had a house…"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"I assumed, with all the time that you spend here, that you have a house or an apartment or something." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"We're going there after the rest of the boys leave."

"When there's less of a chance that people will follow us?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

I laughed. "Am I staying with you or…?"

"You're staying in my room, yes. I, on the other hand, will be slipping into Louis's room."

 

\----

 

"Louis!" I was so excited to see him. I'd missed him just as much as I had Harry.

He pulled me into a tight hug in the hallway outside our rooms. "Hey, love, how was your flight?"

"Flights always make me feel grimy."

"Ah, me, too," he replied as Harry unlocked his room.

"How busy are you guys today?" I asked, following Harry into the room.

"Radio interview in a couple hours. Then we are free until the show."

"What am I supposed to do while you guys are on the radio?" I asked, lifting my suitcase onto the bed to unzip it and find everything I needed to shower.

"I think they want you to tag along, just so they can say 'Harry's lovely girlfriend is here with us' or something of that nature," Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

"Ah. Are we going to do anything fun today?"

"You don't think interviews are fun?" Louis replied, sarcastically.

"I wanna go out. Do something. Is that possible?"

"We can go out, but not together."

"Not even the three of us?"

"We'd have to get another one of the boys to go along or have Eleanor along."

"Wait, is Eleanor here?"

"She's coming in for the show tomorrow, along with my mum and Harry's mum and Liam's mum."

"Wait, I have to meet the parents already?"

"We could totally go do some sightseeing once they're all here if we can get Eleanor to agree to it. Double dates are Modest! approved," Louis replied, ignoring that I'd stopped preparing for a shower and was just staring at them.

"I have to meet your mom?" I looked accusingly at Harry.

"Did we not mention this?" he asked innocently.

"No, you certainly did not."

"Well, it'll be fine."

"What does she know? Beyond the obvious, I mean."

"She knows we like you. She'll like you."

"Anything else I should know?"

"I think you're having a bit of a girls' day with all of them on Saturday before everyone leaves Sunday."

"A girls' day? I can get on board with that."

 

\--------------------------

 

"Mum, this is Riley. Riley, this is my mum."

"You can call me 'Anne,'" she smiled. "Harry's told me a lot about you."

I glanced at him and then back to her. "Good things, I hope?"

"All good things, of course. The boys love you."

I blushed at that and Harry squeezed my hand.

"Jay! Over here!" Anne waved her over. "Come meet our boys' lovely girl that we've been hearing so much about."

"Seriously, how much have you talked about me?" I asked Harry. He just shrugged with a  smile in response.

"They didn't expect to find someone they got along with so well to be Harry's girlfriend. They've been a bit shocked by the whole experience."

"But Eleanor --" I started, confused.

"She's a lovely girl, of course, her and the boys just don't exactly get along."

"Understatement of the century," Harry muttered next to me.

"She's coming today, too, right?" I asked, ignoring Harry's comment.

"She was being picked up by Louis at the airport, so it'll take longer for them to get out. PR and such."

I turned to Harry with a confused look. "We didn't have to deal with that?" I asked.

"Modest! Is trying to make our relationship appear a bit more realistic than theirs. I think they've realized the error in their ways of over-publicizing every time the two of them are seen together, but they can't go back on it now, so they're still over-publicizing them, while not so much publicizing us. The fans we met at the airport put plenty of pictures of us online to make up for it anyways."

"So we can expect more publicity later in the week?"

"For us? Yeah. We can't escape it."

"You're staying with the boys for the week after their last show here, right?" Jay asked.

"That's the plan. I'm hoping we can just hang out a bit and not be photographed every time we leave the house, but we'll see," I replied.

"Louis'll be under the radar?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I have some meetings next week, so I think Lou and Riley can entertain themselves."

"We'll have lots of fun without you, of course." I grinned.

"Be careful."

"Mum, we're always careful. It'll be fine. Riley being here will just make it that much easier. No one's going to expect that my boyfriend's waiting for us to get home."

"I can still worry."

Harry rolled his eyes with a small smile. "I wouldn't expect any less."

"Riley, I don't know if either of the boys told you, but we're planning a bit of a girls' day out shopping tomorrow and we're hoping you'll join us," Jay told me.

"They did mention it -"

"And she was thrilled at the opportunity of spending time with the female gender," Harry interrupted with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sure I phrased it that way, but yes, I'd love to come."

"Great. It'll be a good chance for you and Eleanor to get to know each other."

"Oh, yes, please become besties with Eleanor," Harry said, sarcasm laced in every word.

"Harry - " Anne started to scold him.

"No, they don't like her. I already know that. I won't judge her on someone else's opinion, even if it is my boyfriend's opinion," I assured her.

"Well, I'm gonna go relax a bit before the show this evening," Jay stated, standing to head into her room next door.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Anne nodded.

"Oh, we'll leave you to it. It was lovely meeting you both," I replied, standing to leave.

"I'll see you later," Harry said, following me out the door.

As the door shut behind us and we made our way down the hall to our rooms, he filled me in on the stream of texts he had been ignoring from Louis while we had been in Anne's room.

" _'I hate this'_

_'do I have to hug her?'_

_'why do we have to be watched?'_

_'you got to pick up Riley without any of this'_

_'not fair'_

_'how did you win in the girlfriend department_ '"

"Well, he sounds perfectly chipper about meeting his girlfriend at the airport," I laughed.

"He's like this almost every time she's brought in."

"'You won in the girlfriend department.' Has that just made it worse?" I asked, concerned.

"Babe, they've been miserable together since way before you came in the picture. It just gives him something else to complain about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've been struggling to write things in order, so I kept writing future things and not things to get us to those future things. Anyhow, comments and kudos are MUCH appreciated. I promise to start replying to comments. Next update will hopefully be next week. I will try my darndest.


	9. Meeting the Other Beard

"Eleanor, this is Riley. Riley, Eleanor." Anne smiled at the both of us.

"Hi, its great to finally meet you," I offered my hand for a handshake, unsure of the proper protocol in meeting your fake boyfriend's boyfriend's fake girlfriend.

"I've heard a lot about you," Eleanor replied, taking my hand. My father always said you could tell a lot about a person by their handshake. Her hand felt like a dead fish in mine. There was no grip, no firm shake. Okay, this wasn't looking good.

"Good things, I hope," I grinned, stealing my hand back from hers.

"The boys love you." She shook her head in disbelief.

"They're great, aren't they?"

"If you say so," she muttered.

 

\------

 

"What is her problem?" I asked, gesturing towards Eleanor.

"Oh, El? What do you mean?" Anne asked, oblivious.

"She's been making snide comments about Harry and I's relationship all day."

"No, she's not," Anne tried to assure me.

"She said, and I quote, 'Be thankful Harry knows how to kiss a girl, I'm not sure Louis's ever learned.' and 'Aren't you so happy to be in a fake relationship?' and 'Can't you get a real boyfriend?'"

"She's just joking around."

"Okay, maybe I just don't get her sense of humor," I conceded, not wanting to argue with Harry's mother so soon after meeting her.

 

\------

 

"How was the girls' day?" Louis asked, coming up to kiss his mother and I both on the cheek.

Eleanor strode away. Off to powder her perfect nose, I thought.

"It was great. I think the girls are really getting along," Jay smiled. I smiled back, hoping to high heaven that I looked genuinely happy. "I'm gonna go shower before the show tonight, I'll see you all later."

"Alright, it was lovely getting to spend the day with you, Jay," I grinned, genuine this time.

"I'm glad the boys found you, dear."

"We'll see you later, Mum," Louis said, pulling me towards our rooms.

 

\------

 

"Babe! You're back!" Harry exclaimed as soon as I entered the room. He was doing something on his laptop, but quickly set it aside as Louis asked how the day really went.

"Eleanor's a bitch."

Both of them laughed, high-fiving.

"She is. She kept making these snide comments and both of your mothers just think she's joking all the time when they do hear her. And she kept mouthing off about 'Can't you get a real boyfriend?' and talking shit on both of you."

Louis rolled his eyes. "Mum's determined to think the best of her."

"Oh, but your mom is so great. She's funny and nice and so put together. We had fans approach us a couple times and both of your moms just handled it like a pro. Spouted off something about getting to know their boy's new girl."

"And Eleanor?"

"She just stayed off to the side and smiled," I replied. "She doesn't really interact with fans at all, does she?"

"She tries not to. Says she's shy, but I think she thinks it's beneath her or something." Louis shook his head.

"But the fans are so sweet most of the time!"

"And that is why you are our favorite," Harry reminded me.

"El's leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, it'll just be the three of us by this time tomorrow," Louis assured me.

"Are you 'leaving' with Eleanor?" I ask, making air quotes.

"I think so. It shouldn't be too hard, we pull this stunt all the time. Just have to get someone to say they've seen me back home or post something making it look like I'm at home."

"But, tonight…" Harry paused with a look towards Louis who nodded. "Tonight we're gonna go out after the show with both of you girls."

"Are any of the other guys coming?"

"They might. Katherine wants the four of us out together, though, and we'd rather get it out of the way tonight rather than keep Eleanor here any longer."

"Especially since El and I get along so well," I added, sarcastically.

"We're going to a club - "

"Is Harry even old enough to get into a club in America?" I raised my eyebrow skeptically.

"It's already all planned. He's kind of famous, I dunno if you noticed."

"Well, yeah - "

"And this is a publicity stunt," Harry added.

"So, we're getting in, no problem. You two will dance a little; El and I will drink a little. It'll be fun."

"Fun. With Eleanor. Right." I stared at him.

"You'll get to dance with meeee," Harry whined, flashing his puppy dog eyes.

"I thought One Direction couldn't dance?" I laughed.

"We like to pretend every once in a while."

"Don't leave me alone with Eleanor," I said, somewhere between begging and demanding.

"No, we'll just be leaving Louis alone with her." Harry grinned.

 

\-----

 

"You guys were incredible," I greeted them after the show.

"You always say that," Louis pointed out.

"Because it's _always_ true," I reply as I link arms with Louis. "C'mon, let's get El drunk," I mutter into his ear with an evil grin.

"Would that make us a more believable couple or more not believable?" Louis squinted at me as if contemplating which he actually wanted.

"Who cares? I wanna see Miss Perfect knocked down a peg or two," I muttered back as Miss Perfect herself approached us in the hallway. She was walking with Jay and they were laughing at something. "Hey, Eleanor, are you ready to hit a club tonight?" I grinned.

Her face dropped for a moment before she forced a smile back at me. "Of course. Let's do this."

We said our goodbyes to Jay and walked out to the black SUV they had waiting for us. The club wasn't too far from the arena and minutes later we were escaping the awkward silence that had fallen over the back seat.

There was quite the line to get into the club, but, being with two-fifths of One Direction, we walked right in. Louis had his arm around Eleanor's waist and Harry had wrapped his arm around my shoulder and was whispering in my ear, making me laugh. The pictures that were being snapped were sure to make it look like we were ever the loving couples out for a night of fun. Well, at least Harry and I were.

"I need alcohol," I announced as soon as we were inside.

"Go find a table," Louis replied. "We'll get drinks." He and Harry made there way through the crowd to the bar as Eleanor grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a corner table she saw being vacated.

"Are you a lightweight?" I asked as she ran a napkin across the table before sitting down.

"Yeah, I'm not drinking much tonight." She shook her head, searching for the boys in the crowd.

"Nooo, you have to. It'll make the night much more bearable."

"And much more likely for me to slip up. Daddy says to never drink when on the job," she replied, seriously.

"What?" I replied, surprised. "No, no, no. This isn't work. This is fun."

"This is publicity," she replied, looking at me like she was speaking to a toddler.

"No, this is a double date that gets us out of the hotel. And gets _them_ out of the hotel. They don't get to do this very often. We're totally having fun tonight. Don't think so much."

"Drinks!" Harry announced, walking up to the table. He handed me something that appeared fruity and had an umbrella in it. Louis gave Eleanor what appeared to be a simple beer. Both had clearly ordered two of whatever they had wanted and expected us to drink it. Lucky for me, not so lucky for Eleanor, I thought. Surprisingly, Eleanor looked pleased and took a long sip.

"To double dates!" I raised my glass.

"To dancing!" Harry added, raising his glass to mine.

"You can't dance." Louis laughed as he and Eleanor both raised their glasses to clink to ours.

"Wait, wait, you have to make eye contact!" I exclaimed as they started to put their glasses down. We all made dramatic eye contact with each other as we touched our glasses again and then drank.

"Why do you have to make eye contact?" Harry questioned.

"I don't know. I went to Paris once, that's what they told us. It stuck with me."

"Ah, Paris, the city of love." Louis and Harry grinned at each other.

Eleanor groaned, rolled her eyes, and downed the rest of her drink. "I'm going to get another drink. Did you open a tab?"

"Of course, dear," Louis replied.

"I thought she said she wasn't drinking much tonight?" Harry asked after she'd disappeared.

"I told her to let loose and have some fun. Didn't think I'd convinced her." I shrugged.

"Well, I doubt I'll get her to dance and I can't be seen dancing without her, now can I?" Louis sighed.

"Whatever. Come dance with me," I replied, standing and pulling him to his feet. "Harry, we'll be back." He nodded with a grin.

I kept hold of his hand until we'd made it down the stairs to the dance floor, close enough to the speakers that we could feel the music. The grin on his face made it totally worth leaving Harry to deal with El.


	10. El Oh El

"Louiiiiiiiiis! Kiss me!" Eleanor demanded, stumbling after him towards the car.

Apparently, Eleanor was a better actress when she was drunk. We should alert Modest!.

"Rileyyy." Harry was leaning against me, soft and whiny and pliant when drunk. "Louiiiiss."

Louis looked over his shoulder at us and rolled his eyes at me. "He's an entertaining drunk."

"Very obedient, I'm guessing." I smirked. "Harry, we've got to get back to the hotel."

"Are you gonna stay the night in our room?!" he exclaimed, just loud enough that I saw the paparazzi chuckle nearby.

"Of course, Harry, it's our room," I assured him.

"Louiiis, do we have to gooo?" Eleanor was whining against Louis's shoulder.

"Yes, babe," Louis laughed. "We've got to get back to the hotel. We've got a flight back home tomorrow, remember."

"Oh...yeah...I like home." She nodded her head frantically until she lost her balance and almost fell, Louis catching her just in time.

"Home?! No. Noooo," Harry whined. "Don't wanna go home yet." And he started pulling away in the opposite direction of the car.

"Harry! Harry, no, we're not going home yet," I assured him, threading my arm through his and pulling him towards the car. "Just the hotel. We're staying this week, remember?"

"Nooo, home. I wanna go home," Eleanor mumbled into Louis's shoulder, shaking her head. "Daddy said I didn't have to stay."

"Babe, we're going home tomorrow. They're staying, not us."

"Harry's letting you leave?" she asked quietly. Louis glanced back at me, slightly panicked.

"Babe, Harry's staying with his girl and I'm going home with mine, of course," Louis assured her.

"My girlll," Harry said, sloppily kissing my cheek. "You're miiiiine."

"Yes, baby," I replied with a grin. "Now, let's get in the car so we can go back to the hotel."

He shook his head. "House. Let's go to the house."

I opened the SUV's door as Louis walked around to the other side to get Eleanor into the car. "Hotel for tonight, babe. Let's go."

Luckily, he decided to make some effort to get into the car, only making me catch him once as his foot slipped and he lost his balance. After a little more maneuvering on Louis's part, we all made it into the car and shut the door before Harry started talking about wanting Louis to stay. Louis and I shared a grateful look before he started assuring Harry that he wasn't leaving. Eleanor fell asleep within moments and Harry curled up to me, laying his head on my shoulder as he continued to mumble about me being 'his girl' and Louis needing to stay.

 

\------

 

"Time to wake up, ladies!" Louis entered my room through the adjoining door between our rooms, flipping the lights on.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

Eleanor was groaning in the bed next to me, saying something about it being too bright in the room.

"Nine o'clock. Check-out is at ten and El's flight is at one, so we've gotta get a move on."

Eleanor suddenly lurched out of the bed and ran into the bathroom where we heard vomiting sounds and chose to talk over them.

"Is Harry that bad?" I asked, sitting up.

"He's got a bit of a headache, but he didn't do that upon waking up."

"Where is he?" It didn't look like anyone was in the bed I could see through the door he had left open.

"Showering. We ordered room service, so breakfast should be here pretty soon."

"Oh, so I need to switch rooms in order for us to receive it?"

"Well, yeah. That'd be helpful." He smiled, apologetic.

I heard the shower starting in the bathroom as I shuffled into the other room and curled up on Louis's side of the bed, pulling Twitter up on my phone to check last night's damage.

 

_@hazza4eva: How does El pull of being drunk so well? She still looks adorable._

_@lou2949: Louis looks happier with Riley than he does with his girlfriend, wth?_

_@99directioner: Elounor are so adorable._

_@932larryyluv: Riley and Harry are clearly just friends._

_@tmhhazza: @932larryyluv have you not seen them kissing? They are totally in love. #delusional_

_@932larryyluv: @tmhhazza that’s what they want us to thnk. #larryforever_

_@loubear123: louis's like the perfect boyfriend. I want him to take care of me when I'm drunk._

 

It was looking pretty calm until I checked the worldwide trends.

 

_Louis take Harry home_

_#100factsaboutme_

_Red Sox_

_#LouisTakeEleanorHome_

_Name That Food_

_Beliebers love Justin_

_Channing Tatum_

_Larry dancing with Riley_

 

"Babe, have you seen Twitter?" I asked, calling Louis back into the room.

"Why, what's happening?" Harry came out of the bathroom just then, shirtless, and I might've had a momentary lapse in brain function. "Riley?"

"Oh, here," I replied, handing my phone over quickly and looking away, only to catch Louis watching me with a smirk on his face.

"Ha, 'Larry dancing with Riley'. I like that one," Harry said.

"Management will love it, I'm sure."

"They wanted publicity. They got it." Louis laughed.

"Did I do anything stupid last night?" Eleanor asked, collapsing into the chair next to the window.

I giggled. "Other than being the clingy girlfriend and playing your part perfectly?"

Her wide eyes told me she didn't remember last night, but a knock at the door and a call of 'room service' made us halt our conversation. Eleanor and Louis slipped out of the room and into the next while Harry answered the door.

"Good morning, miss," the man said as he wheeled a cart laden with food into the room.

I smiled. "Good morning. That smells amazing. I'm starved."

"Well, have a good day," the man said as he went to leave, Harry pressing a bill into his hand.

"Thank you, sir."

"Thanks."

As soon as the door closed, Harry opened the adjoining door to let Louis and El back into the room.

"Okay, but seriously, what happened?" Eleanor asked, coming to sit next to me on the bed.

"You and Harry can't hold your alcohol. You were demanding Louis kiss you at one point and begging him to come home with you at another. I was impressed that you stayed in character while so intoxicated."

She blushed and mumbled something before grabbing a piece of fruit off the top of the tray and going back into my room.

"I'm not sure she was just in character," Louis whispered, taking her place next to me and handing me a plate of food.

"What do you mean?"

"Ask her. I don't want to assume too much."

I shoveled my food into my mouth as Louis and Harry discussed the plans for moving us three into their house for the week with no one noticing. As soon as I'd finished, I wandered back into my room where I found Eleanor about to leave.

"Wait, what's wrong?" I asked, noticing she seemed a little freaked out.

"Nothing," she replied in a tone that clearly implied something.

I raised an eyebrow at her, skeptical.

"I shouldn't have drank so much last night," she sighed.

"Don't worry about it, it was fine. I think it was more convincing that you and Louis are actually together with your drunk exclamations."

"Yeah, that's the thing, I don't know that I was acting. I mean, I don't remember much of last night."

"What? You like Louis?"

She shrugged and stared at her feet. "Maybe?"

"Is that why you're so mean to them?"

"I am not --"

"Yeah, you are. You're mean to them because you're jealous of Harry and mad at Louis for not wanting you."

"He should be --"

"With Harry. The fucking love of his life," my voice was raising in volume as I processed what kind of witch this girl really was.

"You don't know anything." She glared at me.

"I know you aren't going to convince him to be with you in this lifetime or any other." I glared right back.

"You are in the same situation as me. I can tell. You're totally into Harry and you think you're fooling everyone with thinking that you're happy just being his beard?"

"I am happy being whatever he needs me to be."

"You're in over your head. You don't know what this job entails. You signed your life away."

"Happily. I signed it away happily. I wasn't forced into this."

"I wasn't forced into it in the beginning either. My dad proposed it and I thought I could get the boy to like me, okay? I thought I had an actual chance. How was I supposed to know that he's head over heels for that boy?"

"If you actually talked to them once in a while, you might actually be able to get along with them. Instead, you just --"

"Shut up, Riley, you don't know anything about me."

"Why don't you just get out? I don't even want to look at you right now." I pointed at the door with a glare in her direction. She glared right back.

"Fuck you, Riley, you'll come crying to me when you realize what a sham this whole fucking situation is."

"Get the fuck out, El."

And she was gone, slamming the door behind her.

I was fuming as Harry and Louis peeked into my room to check on me.

I turned to them. "She is such a _bitch_. I actually thought I could get along with her for about five minutes."

"I guess the job got to her," Louis mumbled.

"She had no right to say that to you. Just because you signed the same contract doesn't mean you feel the same way as her."

"Riley, you didn't have to stick up for us, either."

"Whatever. She needed to hear it." I pushed past them back into their room and started to angrily peel an orange.

"We've gotta check out pretty quick, babe."

"Let me fume for a minute. I'm not even gonna shower; I'll just throw on some clothes. I got my stuff together yesterday."

"Okay, we're going straight to the house from here, anyways," Harry replied with a shrug.

 

\----

 

"Was she still mad?" I asked Louis as soon as he arrived at the house.

"She didn't say a word to me. Not a word."

"She's embarrassed, babe. She's been outed for being practically in love with you," Harry reminded him.

"I didn't know, though," Louis pouted.

"You'd tell me if you fell in love with me, right?" Harry asked, giving me a look.

I laughed. "Um, no. I'd never admit it. Besides, I care enough about you to want you to be happy with whoever makes you happy. Louis makes you happy. You make Louis happy. That's all that matters to me."

"I don't want to end up hurting you." He grabbed my hand.

"Neither of us do," Louis added, grabbing my other hand.

"Don't push me away. Be my friend. We'll be fine. I think we're doing pretty good at the fake relationship thing." I smirked.

"You've got to tell us if something bothers you, though."

"We don't want you ending up bitter like her."

"I am not going to end up like her. I fully knew what I was walking into when I signed those papers. Besides, I'd never end up like her."

"She wasn't so bad in the beginning," Harry replied.

Louis gave him a skeptical look.

"She wasn't!" He insisted.

"You never liked her."

"No, but she still wasn't that bad in the beginning," Harry insisted.

"Too kindhearted. He can't be downright mean." I smiled at Harry.

"Hard not to love," Louis conceded with a quick kiss on Harry's cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to my commenter, Antonio Smith, because they commented and it got me writing at warp speed in comparison to usual. Also, my bestie added me as a co-writer on her fic Just a Modest! Relationship where I'll be adding little bonus chapters from a fictionalized version of me's point of view, so you should totally go read and comment and leave kudos over there if you have time!
> 
> Coming up, we'll see how Harry, Louis, and Riley handle being in LA alone together. Comments and kudos are always appreciated (they get me to update faster, simply because they make me want to write more).


	11. Just the Three of Us

"I have to meet with some guys to write with tomorrow, so you two will be on your own."

Louis and I shared a look. "I think we can handle it."

The three of us were curled up on the couch watching a movie before bed.

"Are you writing for the album?" I asked.

"I dunno. They might end up on the album, but I'm just meeting with some guys I've been wanting to write with for a while."

 

\------

 

"So you two totally write love songs about each other, right?" I asked the next morning over cereal. Harry had just said his goodbyes with a kiss to my cheek and a peck to Louis's lips.

"They are about life experiences," Louis insisted, color rising in his cheeks.

"Yeah, experiences with each other." I smirked. "It's good songwriting material."

"It is. I mean, it's hard not to write about it."

"Everyone loves a good love song."

We continued eating our cereal in silence for a few moments.

"What're we gonna do today?" I asked.

"Relax. Chill. Have fun without Harold." He listed them off like a to-do list.

"That means we don't have to get dressed, right?"

"Absolutely. We're chilling in front of the TV all day."

 

\-----

 

"Please tell me you did something semi-productive today?" Harry asked upon seeing us laying on the couch.

"I made cookies!" I replied with a grin.

"We had a very enlightening discussion of Johnlock's relationship after watching _Sherlock_ ," Louis insisted.

"Johnlock?" Harry looked confused.

"John and Sherlock. That's their ship name," I informed him.

"They're together?"

"They should be." Louis nodded.

"That's the highlight of your day?"

"Riley's very convincing when it comes to these things. She does nothing halfway." Louis smirked in my direction.

Harry shook his head. "Cookies?"

"In the kitchen." I grinned, pointing him in the right direction.

"Well, I co-wrote a great song today," he told us as he walked in to grab a couple cookies. "If I do say so myself."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked.

"Who were you writing with today?" Louis asked.

"Gary Lightbody and Garrett Lee," he replied.

"Why does Gary Lightbody sound familiar?" I asked, trying to place the name.

"Snow Patrol," Louis reminded me.

"Ohhh, you got to write with him?! That's amazing."

"Yeah, they're great guys."

"What's the song?" I asked. "Is it sad? Is it happy? When do I get to hear it?"

"I don't know when you'll hear it, babe. It's called 'Something Great' is about all I'm willing to tell you." Harry laughed.

"Oh, so its about Louis." I nodded to myself.

"Not everything I write is about him!" Harry insisted.

"So it's not about him?"

"No, it's kind of about him," Harry confessed with a blush as he reentered the room, shoving a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth.

"Awww," Louis and I replied in sync causing the blush to bloom across his cheeks.

 

\----

 

"Katherine's insisting we go out tonight," Harry told me at breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah, I got a text from Martha."

"We could make a day of it. Louis's got a meeting this afternoon anyways."

"Make a day of what?" Louis asked, entering the kitchen wearing only sleep pants. Both boys didn't seem to think shirts were necessary at any point around the house, I'd learned. I just tried not to stare.

"Publicity. And fun. Mostly fun," Harry assured me with a nod.

"Take her to the beach," Louis told him. "That should get some good publicity with these abs." He poked Harry in the ribs as he crossed to fix a plate.

"Did you bring a swimsuit?" he asked me.

"Of course I did," I assured him.

"The beach it is, then."

 

 

\----

 

"Well, twitter has us trending, so Katherine will be pleased," I told Harry as we walked into the house. "'Harry and Riley,' along with 'Beach Harry' and 'MIA Louis.' I guess that last one she may not like as much."

"They'll deal. We got out. We kissed on the beach. We took pictures with fans. I don't know what more she could possibly want."

Harry's and my phone both dinged with a message and we sighed as we pulled it out.

_'You're still expected to go on a date tonight. -Martha'_

"Of course, she would say that," I sighed. I started towards my room to take a shower, with Harry following me down the hall.

"You wanna go fancy or casual?" he asked.

"I'm not picky. I'd rather be ordering Chinese in with you and Louis here."

"Casual it is. We can go to McDonald's for all I care," he muttered.

 

\-----

 

"That was quite the kiss last night," Louis greeted us the next morning.

I immediately turned bright red.

"We decided to get Katherine off our backs. Make a big PDA and maybe she won't make us go out so much for publicity the rest of the week."

"And sticking your tongue in the girl's mouth and feeling her up was your great idea?" He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "And she made a mess of your hair, it looked like."

"Louis - "

"We're making it believable, that's the goal, right?"

"I don't think we need it to be quite so believable in the future - " Louis was cut off by the sound of Harry's phone ringing.

He sighed and answered it. "Hello?...Yeah, well….No…No..It was just…Yeah…You wanted it to be…No…We were just trying to…Okay. Fine. Yes, I'll tell her."

"Who was that?" I inquired.

"Katherine. She wants me to inform you that she -- well, she was a bit more rude about it, but she wants you to know that we are to dial back the PDA."

Louis chuckled. "I can't believe I actually agree with Katherine about something."

"You know this is all just --"

"Fake? Yeah, I'm aware that it's fake, Harry, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when I wake up to pictures of the two of you being proclaimed as the perfect couple and giving each other mouth-to-mouth." Louis spun and took off back down the hall.

"Louis! Don't be like this," Harry exclaimed, taking off after him.

For the next hour, I sat in front of the TV, watching Netflix, desperately trying to ignore the fight that was happening down the hall. I would've left, but I hadn't gotten dressed yet, and my room was right next to theirs, I didn't want them to think I was trying to eavesdrop or anything. It got quiet after a while and then I saw Harry slamming the front door behind him. I muted the TV and listened desperately for a sign that Louis was coming to yell at me, too, but all I heard was a strangled sob and I immediately took off down the hall.

Louis was on the floor next to their bed with his head in his hands, his whole body shaking as he cried. I hesitated only a moment before moving to sit next to him, wrapping my arms around him, praying he wouldn't push me away. He didn't say a word, just moved his head onto my shoulder and tried to stop the tears.

"It's okay," I murmured, rubbing my hand up and down his back in a comforting gesture. "It'll be okay."

We sat like that for a while. Time didn't seem to matter, I just wanted him to feel better, not caring if I got the whole story or not. He seemed to have forgiven me, given the way he was leaning into my hug, but I wasn't sure how he was feeling about Harry at the moment.

"It's not you," he finally trembled. "Don't think I'm mad at you."

"Okay," I assured him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He was silent for a few minutes before speaking again. He'd stopped crying, but didn't seem to want to leave my embrace.

"It's just so hard."

"He still loves you," I assured him. "More than anything. He'd give you the moon if he thought it'd make you happy."

He nodded into my shoulder. "Is this what it's like for him when I'm with Eleanor?" he asked in a shaky, quiet voice.

I bit my lip, trying to keep a handle on my emotions. "Maybe."

A broken noise escaped his lips. "I didn't know it hurt like this. He's never said anything."

Tears threatened to escape my eyes. "I don't think he wanted you to know." My voice quivered and I cleared my throat. "Neither of you should have to hurt each other like this, but the world sucks."

Louis let out a broken laugh. "It sucks tremendously at the moment."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments/kudos are always appreciated.
> 
> Next update will be up Sunday sometime, promise! (I cried writing this heartbreaking scene, okay, so I'm sorry, it just happened.)


	12. It Started On A Weekend In May...

"He's sleeping. Don't wake him," I told Harry when he arrived hours later. "I told him I'd make dinner and wake him up when it's ready. We weren't sure when you'd be back."

Harry's eyes were red, clearly he'd been upset as well. "I didn't have anywhere else to go. I just drove around for a while. I thought he needed his space. He didn't seem to want me near him."

"He's dealing with feelings I don't think he thought he'd have."

"I don't understand why he's angry with me." Harry was staring at his shoes, unable to even look at me.

"He didn't realize how much this hurts. You hide it from him too well," I explained.

"It's not his fault. He doesn't need to worry about something he can't do anything about."

"Neither of you like Eleanor, but how does it feel when you see pictures of them holding hands? And fans saying how much they think Elounor is the perfect couple?"

"It hurts. It hurts that people think someone else would be good for him," his voice quivers as he acknowledges what he's been thinking. "It hurts that they could be r-right. His life would be easier with Eleanor. There'd be less s-secrets."

"Did you ever think that he might feel the same when he started seeing stuff with the two of us?"

"He's stronger than me, I didn't think it'd bother him," Harry admitted, biting his lip.

"Well, it does. Now, go pull yourself together, dinner is almost ready. I'll wake him up and I'll eat outside and give you two some time to talk."

Harry nodded and shuffled his way to the bathroom.

"And I have earplugs, if you weren't aware, so don't worry about me if things, ya know, get loud later tonight."

He turned and grinned at me.

 

\-----

 

"Hope we didn't wake you last night." Louis smirked on their way into the kitchen. Harry smacked him on the shoulder with a blush across his cheeks.

"I told you I had earplugs," I shrugged and then laughed Harry winced upon sitting on the hard kitchen chair. "Rough night?"

Harry sent a glare my way instead of responding after a few seconds pause.

Louis fixed Harry and himself bowls of cereal before sitting down across from me next to Harry.

"I don't know if I should be taking him out in public in that state," I commented, observing the two of them as we ate.

"What d'you mean?" Louis asked, glancing worriedly at Harry.

"He's got that blissful fucked out look about him."

Louis studied him for a moment. Harry had the same small smile on his face that he'd came into the kitchen with and his eyes were slightly glassy. He

"Hmm…maybe not. We can spend another day here," Louis replied.

"In bed?" Harry gave Louis a hopeful look.

"Babe, we are not leaving Riley to her own defenses all day just because you can't keep your hands off of me," Louis replied, playfully rolling his eyes.

Harry nodded slowly, the small smile disappearing for only seconds.

"Did you see that Modest! wants me to come to London for the movie premiere?" I asked after a short silence.

"Yeah, they're having Eleanor come, too, and Perrie." Louis nodded.

"Aren't Zayn and Perrie actually together? That's kind of different. He would actually invite her."

"Our families are coming, too," he continued, ignoring my inquiry.

"You won't leave me by my lonesome at the hotel, right?" I asked.

"Hotel?"

"In London."

"No, babe, you'll come stay with us. There's no reason to leave you in a hotel room," Louis insisted.

"I don't want to intrude."

"It's not intruding when we invite you. You'll get to see our place, well, according to the tabloids its my place and Harry's place is somewhere else being renovated or whatever, but whatever."

"So, what? They'll say you offered to let Harry stay and bring his girlfriend? Or we'll just fly under the radar while there?"

"We'll fly under the radar. They don't need to know where you're staying."

"Paparazzi stuff is stricter there, isn't it?" I asked.

"Very much so compared to here, yeah."

"We have a pool," Harry suddenly joined the conversation.

"Won't you be having family stay with you at all for the premiere?"

"Yeah, our parents are coming, I think. There's lots of room, though. Don't worry," Louis assured me.

"I just don't want to intrude."

"Not intruding." Louis rose from the table, stacking our bowls and taking them to the sink to rinse before placing them in the dishwasher. "Let's go find something on Netflix, yeah?"

Harry nodded and stood to follow him with me.

 

\----

 

"Can I ask you something?" I asked Louis after I knew Harry was asleep against his shoulder.

"I won't promise to answer, but I promise to try not to be offended?" he replied, unsure of what to say.

"Okay, so you know I was a fan before of the band and I shipped you two…"

"Yeah…"

"There's this video - "

"Oh god."

"It's pretty early on in interview stuff, I think. You were pretty young…"

"Okay…"

"And did you really get Harry to wear a butt plug to an interview?"

Louis laughed out loud and then covered his mouth, his eyes dancing in mirth, trying not to wake Harry.

"Of all the things you could ask me about, that's what you choose?" he asked, finally getting control of his laughter.

"At this moment, yes."

"Of course he was," he replied simply.

"Oh my god, how did you get away with that?" I gasped.

"Well, no one knew but me, and -"

"No way did no one notice."

"The boys gave us quite the talking to after," he admitted.

"I figured they'd get a kick out of it."

"Oh, they laughed quite a bit about it, but after management got onto us, they got onto us a bit, too."

"I can't believe you two did that. I mean, the video is just --- there's no way that's not what is happening, but to hear you actually admit it -- oh my word, I can't believe you two."

"I can't believe you chose that question. I figured it was going to be how did you meet  or -- "

"I pretty much know how you met. I'd be interested in how you got together, but you were clearly crazy about each other from the first meeting," I reasoned.

"You should ask Harry about how we got together."

"I will definitely do that sometime," I assured him.

"Or I was expecting a Mario Kart question," he smirked.

"That's fairly obvious, too."

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that or not."

"Should I be reminding you that Harry winced upon sitting down this morning?" I smirked.

Louis chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Of course."

"Obviously that doesn't always happen, but I mean --"

"Are you talkin' 'bout me?" Harry mumbled against Louis shoulder.

"Someone's a bit self-centered," Louis remarked.

"Heard my name," Harry mumbled.

 

\----

 

Louis decided to escape the house for a bit the next day, leaving me and Harry to ourselves. Harry insisted we bake.

"Louis can't cook. I cook alone. You can cook. Bake with me," he'd begged. I rolled my eyes and accepted. As we waited for the brownies to finish, I decided to confront him.

"How did you and Louis get together? I mean, I know you met in the bathroom at X Factor, but how'd you actually get together together?" I asked.

Harry laughed. "He put you up to this, didn't he?"

"He might've mentioned it." I grinned. "But really, how did you get together?"

"You know he had a girlfriend at the time?" he sighed.

"Hannah, wasn't it?"

"Well…" Harry paused, biting his lip slightly.

"I suspect you got him to cheat on her," I encouraged him to continue.

"I didn't---well, yeah, I knew. It just kind of happened…"

"Spit it out, Harry."

"Well, he kissed me --"

"Is this before or after you got put in the band together?" I asked.

"Who is the one telling this story?" He glared at me.

I rose my hands in surrender. "Sorry. Go on."

"We met in the bathroom. We also might've snogged in that bathroom. I couldn't keep my hands off of him and he didn't seem to mind. He told me we had to keep it a secret, though."

"Because of Hannah?"

"Yeah, so we were doing all kinds of stuff, but we were trying to keep it a secret. Not very well, considering everyone suspected. Then we got put into the band together. So we were together all the time…he didn't break up with Hannah until after she'd found out about us, though. It was kind of a mess. Her brother was totally pissed…" he paused, thoughtful. "We were kind of officially together before they officially weren't. He asked me in bed one night --"

"In bed?" I exclaimed.

"Not like that," he shook his head. "We didn't --- not until --- we were just sleeping," he insisted. "He said he didn't think he was gay, but he thought he was falling in love with me and asked if that was okay."

"Awwww."

"I was only sixteen. He was fit. He made me laugh and gave me butterflies and I didn't know what could possibly feel more right than being with him, so I said that I didn't care. I told him it was stupid to try to label it and that he was my first crush. I told him I'd never felt this way about anyone."

"He's your soulmate."

"Yeah," Harry grinned. "He is."

"Okay, now what is the embarrassing part that you left out? Because Louis wouldn't have put me up to this if it wasn't supposed to be embarrassing."

"That's it." He refused to make eye contact with me.

"There is no freaking way that is it. What happened in that bathroom, Harry Styles?"

"Nope. Not telling."

"But it's meeeee."

"Riley, it's one of the most embarrassing things I have ever done."

"It got you your soulmate. Just tell me." I grabbed his shoulders and shook. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me."

Louis came through the front door. "What've you two been up to today?" he asked from the entry way.

Harry and I made eye contact before frantically jumping up to run into him.

"Don't tell her," Harry yelled.

I reached Louis before him barely and quickly summarized the situation.

"Don't," Harry insisted again.

"I just wanna know what happened in the bathroom and all he'll say is that you might've snogged in there," I begged.

"'Might've snogged,' really, Harry?"

"It's embarrassing," Harry replied.

"All the best stories are," Louis insisted. "He attempted his first blow job."

"Louiiiiiiss," Harry whined.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"He wasn't bad; he just --" Louis got stopped by Harry's hand over his mouth. Harry was frantically shaking his head.

"No, no no no. Lou, please."

"It's just Riley," he insisted, pushing the hand away with a smirk.

"If you write a tell-all book about our lives, you better leave this out," Harry glared at me.

I just grinned. "Louis?"

"He came in his pants before he even got me off."

I laughed. Louis smirked at Harry and Harry just glared at both of us.

"That's not that bad. You were sixteen!" I insisted.

"He's gotten much better," Louis assured me.

I smirked. "I'm sure he has."

Louis leaned in to kiss the glare off of Harry's face. Harry finally conceded to the kiss and as they broke apart, I heard him mumble, "Payback's a bitch."

The brownies' timer went off in the kitchen before I could hear anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (English Love Affair lyrics are too perfect)
> 
> Comments/kudos always appreciated! :)
> 
> Coming up: Riley visits Louis & Harry's place in London...


	13. Off to London...

"Hey, babe."

I grinned. "Hey, baby."

Harry pulled me into a tight hug, lifting me off my feet briefly.

"I missed you."

"Let's grab your luggage."

We made our way over to baggage claim, hands intertwined, ignoring the flashing cameras as best we could. As we stood by the conveyor belt, he wrapped his arm around my waist and leaned in to whisper into my ear.

"We should be able to just go back to the house and hang out for today. I think this will be enough pictures for them to chew on for the day."

I nodded and smiled. It was fun playing couple, but I had to constantly remind myself that this was all an act. He was just apparently a very good actor.

"That one's mine," I announced, pointing to my purple suitcase as it made its way down the conveyor belt. I started to step forward to grab it, but Harry stopped me.

"I'll grab it."

He made his way back over to me and pretended to struggle with the weight of the suitcase. "Jeez, babe, how much did you pack?"

I smacked him on the shoulder and with a small glance to see that a photographer was close by, I replied, "Says the one that asked me to only bring lingerie."

I heard the photographer chuckle from a few feet away and feigned innocence as Harry glared at me.

He had actually jokingly told me that over the phone when I'd asked what the weather was supposed to be like.

Slipping his hand back into mine, he led the way to the exit, pulling my suitcase behind him.

 

\----

 

"This place is huge," I observed as Louis led me down a hallway to my bedroom.

"It's not that big," Louis laughed. "I'll give you the tour as soon as we get your stuff put down. Or did you want to shower or anything first?"  
"I wanna see this place," I assured him.

"Well, this is your room." He pushed open a door on the left side of the hall. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it was a queen size bed and it had it's own bathroom. The room was done in cool blues and purples which seemed to have a calming effect as soon as you entered it. I walked over to the window on the opposite side of the room to see what kind of view I was offered and grinned upon seeing that there was not only a pool, but a hot tub in the backyard. I quickly dropped my backpack next to where he had sat my suitcase by the bed.

"Looks great. Where to next?"

We stepped back out of the room, leaving the bedroom door open. "Here's another guest room." He opened the door opposite mine and gestured inside. It was slightly smaller than mine and didn't have a bathroom attached and had two twin sized beds instead of a queen, decorated in bright pinks and blues. "It's usually where my sisters stay when the family visits." He shut the door and walked down to the next door on the right. "This one's usually our parents' rooms whenever any of them stay." It was a larger room with a queen size bed done in blues and greens. The room next to it was done in purples and blues with a queen-size bed. The room across from that was a large bathroom and the room at the end of the hall was an office/storage area. "We don't use the office much," Louis commented.

We walked back down the hall and he gestured at doors as we passed. The door next to mine led downstairs to the basement, which was the game room. Another door was the laundry room and then we were back at the front door. Straight in front of the entryway was the living room/kitchen area. It was a very open kitchen area and down another hall beside the living room was another bedroom which he informed me would probably be their kid's room whenever they decided to pursue that and at the end of the hall was his and Harry's room, which was huge. They had a large walk-in closet and a large bathroom. A king-size bed was in the middle of the room.

"Wow, this place is nice."

"Thank you."

"Are there plans for tonight? Can I please go swimming?" I asked as we made our way back into the kitchen where we found Harry starting on dinner.

"Of course, babe. I told you we aren't going anywhere tonight," Harry replied.

"Will either of you join me?" I asked, leaning on the counter.

"I'd be up for the hot tub later, but let me get dinner done first."

"I'm in. I'll meet you out there," Louis shrugged, walking back towards their bedroom to change.

"Alright, I'll be out in a few then," I told him, wandering back towards my room.

I took my time unpacking my suitcase until I'd found one of my bikinis. It'd been about twenty minutes by the time I made my way back out into the living room.

"About time," Harry commented. "Louis's already in the water."

"I got distracted unpacking as I dug for my swimsuit," I replied, shrugging. "What are you making for dinner?" I came up behind him and peaked into the bowl he was standing over.

"This is dessert. Dinner's in the oven."

"You're making cookies for after dinner?" I grinned.

He nodded.

"I love you." I kissed him on the cheek and then walked out the door. "Did you bring towels out?" I asked Louis. He stared at me for a moment before responding.

"No, but Haz said he'd bring some out when he came to get us for dinner."

He was still staring at me and quickly gave myself a once-over to reassure myself that I didn't forget my bottoms or something ridiculous. By the time I looked back up, he had dunked underwater.

"Is it cold?" I asked as soon as he came back up.

"Nah, just jump in, its deep enough on this end."

I walked to the edge and dipped my toes in, testing the temperature before stepping back and then jumping in. I shivered as I kicked my way back up to the surface.

"Liar, its freezing down there." I splashed him in retaliation.

I quickly realized that wasn't the best approach and thirty minutes later when Harry came out with towels and the announcement that dinner was ready, we were still locked in a water-war. He'd dunked me multiple times and I had dunked him at least twice besides all of the splashing and shoving we'd done.

"Get out and dry off," Harry ordered before walking back into the house. He returned with the food as soon as we had gotten out. "Babe, can you go grab the plates?" I started to step towards the door before I realized he'd been talking to Louis and we both laughed at the misstep.

"Sure thing, hon," Louis called back as he continued to dry off on the way to the door.

I was sort of mesmerized just watching him. In the pool, I'd been distracted by the water-war we had going, but now that he was out and glistening wet, I couldn't help but watch how gracefully his body moved.

"See something you like?" Harry brought me out of my trance and I blushed.

"He's stunning, okay? I can't help it. All looking and no touching, though, promise," I grinned.

"I'm not sure he'd mind," Harry muttered. I must've heard him wrong.

"What?" I asked as Louis rejoined us at the table.

With a quick glance at Louis, he just shrugged. "Nothing."

I gave him a weird look before grabbing the plate Louis offered.

 

\----

 

"Hey, can one of you untie me?" I asked, reentering the living room after spending five minutes trying to undo the knot on the back of my bikini top. They exchanged an uncomfortable glance before Louis came over to attempt to undo the knot.

"Hold onto it if you don't wanna be showin' off your goods," Louis joked as he fought with the knot.

"I'm in a house with two gay guys, I don't think I'm too worried," I replied with a laugh. I noticed Harry giving Louis a look and turned my head to look at him. "What?"

"Uh, we're not gay," Louis replied, slowly.

"But you're together -- I just assumed --"

"Yes, we're together, but that doesn't just make our sexuality a concrete gay --" Louis finally got the knot loose and my top came loose. I was crossing my arms, holding onto the front of it as he came back around to continue. "Neither of us are strictly gay."

"Wait, I can't have this conversation practically topless. Pause right there." I sprinted back to my bedroom and threw on the first t-shirt I came across before reentering the living room. "Can I ask what you are?" I asked, hesitantly. "I mean, you don't have to --"

"It's fine, Riley," Harry interrupted. "I'm pan. I just like who I like."

"And I genuinely thought I was straight until I met Harry," Louis added.

"Oh, so you…" I paused and blushed.

"Yes, you're very attractive, Riley," Louis replied with a slight smirk.

"Okay, so no more stripping in front of you two. Got it."

Harry laughed. "We're very committed to each other, but yeah, if it's awkward for you."

"Sorry," I apologized, staring at the floor, too uncomfortable to make eye contact with either of them.

"Don't apologize, babe. Harry's the nudist over here. I can only imagine how uncomfortable he makes you," Louis assured me.

"I've gotten used to it, I think." I laughed.

Harry pouted. "Clothes are stupid."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking about breaking off the actual threesome part into a sequel. So if you like the story but not the threesome idea, you could just not read the sequel? Thoughts?
> 
> I'll update again next week. Haven't got the next chapter written quite yet.
> 
> Comments/kudos are always appreciated. :)


	14. A Premiere, An Invite, and A Scam

"I have to see Eleanor tomorrow, don't I?" I grumbled to Harry and Louis as we sat down for dinner.

"Yes, she'll be at the premiere," Louis replied.

"I don't have to talk to her, do I?" I pouted.

"It'd probably be polite to do so," Harry reminded me.

"If she mouths off at me about anything and I mean anything, then you can forget it. I don't care if the press sees that we hate each other."

"Well, I'll tell her to keep her mouth shut," Louis assured me.

"Cause she listens to you so well," I mumbled.

 

\---

 

"Lou's supposed to be here in an hour," Harry reminded me.

"Which dress am I supposed to wear?" I asked, frowning up at him.

"Whichever you want," Louis replied from behind me.

I turned to look at him. "Do you know what Eleanor's wearing?"

"No idea," Louis answered with a shrug.

"Well, Perrie's probably gonna show up in something spectacular. I need a nice balance between looking better than Eleanor, but not even attempting the glamour of Perrie," I explained.

Both boys looked at me like I was crazy. "I don't think it matters that much," Harry stated after a moment.

"You'll look great in either dress," Louis assured me. "You're prettier than Eleanor already, you don't need to worry about that."

I rolled my eyes. "You're saying I should just ask Lou, right?"

"Yes." They both nodded in agreement.

 

\---

 

"You should get out while you can," Eleanor muttered in my ear as we quickly hugged for the cameras.

"I don't know what you mean," I replied, keeping the smile plastered across my face.

"There's only so long you can handle this job. Trust me."

I pulled back from the hug and continued to smile despite the evil glint I hoped she was seeing in my eyes. "I think you should stop." I walked back over to Harry's sister before I was tempted to say more.

 

\---

 

"My parents want you to come for Thanksgiving," I comment. It was the morning after the movie premiere and Harry was busy making breakfast as I fiddled with my phone at the table. Louis was still asleep.

"How very American," he quipped with a small smile.

"Well, I have no plans to inform them that I'm just a beard, so it'd be great if you could come. I only ask because I know its not a holiday that you usually celebrate, so I don't feel like I'm taking you away from anything."

"Riley, it's fine. The tour will be over by then, I can totally come stay with you for a few days and meet the family."

"Louis --"

"Will be fine with it," Harry assured me.

"Okay, thank you."

"Mention it to Katherine. Or, well, her assistant. I'm sure they'll be pleased."

"Perfect publicity opportunity," I muttered.

"I think she'll only insist that we post pictures, since it is a family affair."

"Have they told you anything about the next couple months? I mean, am I getting dragged anywhere?"

Harry chuckled. "You'll probably come join us on tour for about a week, I'm guessing. Sometime in October when we're in Australia? We've got a fair amount of time off in between gigs."

"I've never been to Australia."

"It's gorgeous. You'll love it."

 

\---

 

"Riley?"

"Speaking," I replied. I hated answering the phone to unknown numbers, but being Harry's beard had forced me to do it more and more often.

"Hello, this is Caroline. Martha's had an accident and will be out of the office for a couple weeks recovering, so I'm covering for her."

"Oh, what happened?" I asked, concerned for the assistant.

"She tripped down the stairs and broke her ankle. She says she'll be back in the office in a couple weeks, but I think Katherine will encourage her to take more time," Caroline explained.

"Well, I'll make sure to send flowers or something. That sounds awful."

"I'm sure she would appreciate it. Now, onto the main reason for my call. I see here in Martha's notes that you've been scheduled to fly into Australia next week?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm supposed to fly over not this weekend but next and then stay for a little over a week," I agreed.

"And you'll be staying with Harry, correct?"

"Yeah…" I answered, confused by the question.

"I'm trying to make sure I understand the situation."

"We pretty much always stay in the same room," I explained, becoming suspicious of this phone call.

"Okay. And I see he's coming to America for Thanksgiving with your family next month?"

"Yes."

"Just him?"

"Yeah, why would anyone else be coming?" This whole phone call seemed pretty fishy suddenly. Why wouldn't Katherine tell me Martha was getting replaced?

"Oh, of course. Silly question."

"Okay, well, I'm about to walk out the door," I lied. "So, if that's all…"

"Oh, yes, dear, don't let me keep you."

"I guess we'll be in touch."

"Of course. I'll speak with you later."

I hung up the phone and immediately called Harry.

"Hello?" It sounded as if I'd woken him up. Oops, forgot about the time difference.

"Sorry to wake you, babe."

"Riley?" he asked, trying to wake up.

"I just had a weird phone call and I forgot it was the middle of the night for you," I bit my lip, nervously.

"Phone call from who?"

"Martha's replacement?"

"What happened to Martha?"

"Well, according to Caroline, she broke her ankle and she'll be out for a couple weeks."

"I just talked to Martha last night or well, a couple hours ago and she didn't say anything about breaking her ankle," he replied, confused, still trying to wake up.

"Who is that?" I heard Louis's sleepy voice in the background.

"It's Riley," Harry answered him.

"Tell her to go back to sleep," Louis muttered, angrily. He was never much of a morning person.

"Babe, she got a weird phone call from someone claiming to be Martha's replacement."

"Martha doesn't have a replacement. You talked to her last night," Louis replies as Harry switches his phone to speaker.

"She claimed Martha had broken her ankle and she'd be out for a couple weeks," I explained again.

"Did she ask you anything?" Louis asked, suddenly much more awake.

"She asked about my plans to fly into Australia next week, which didn't seem that weird, but then she asked if I was staying in Harry's room," I replied.

"And you said?" Louis prompted me.

"I said that we pretty much always stay in the same room."

"Okay, that's good. Did she ask anything else?" Louis asked.

"Louis, what---" Harry started.  
"Hold on, babe. Riley?"

"Then she asked about him coming to Thanksgiving and if he was the only one coming."

"Shit," Louis muttered. "Don't answer any more phone calls if you don't know who it is, okay?"

"It wasn't Martha's replacement, was it?" I asked.

"No, I think either a fan or a reporter has gotten their hands on your phone number and knows a little too much for my liking," Louis replied.

"I didn't know. I mean, Modest! calls from unknown numbers a lot, I've just gotten used to answering them. It's usually Katherine or Martha, though."

"Babe, you're fine," Louis assured me. "You did good. Kept it vague. They didn't get anything to go on, but they may not have realized that you were suspicious, so they might try again."

"I'm calling Paul. He won't like being woken up, but it needs taken care of and fast," Harry muttered.

"Okay, babe, we're gonna make some calls and get this straightened out, okay? We'll get you a new phone number soon, just don't answer anybody if you don't know who it is."

"Okay, sorry to wake you guys," I apologized again.

"Riley, it was good of you to call. We don't want them harassing you," Harry assured me.

"Okay, we'll talk to you later," Louis told me.

We said our goodbyes and hung up. A couple hours later, I answered the door to a new phone, new phone number, and a geek to help me transfer my contacts.

"Your boyfriend must really worry about you," the guy said as I led him into my kitchen.

"Yeah, it kinda comes with the territory."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I'm trying to figure out how to get where I'm going and not make them just sound like filler chapters!
> 
> Comments/kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> (and I'm going to split the threesome off into a sequel, so I'm taking off that tag...there will be small stuff implied but not anymore than has already been happening...like Louis checking Riley out...that kind of thing, but nothing more...)


	15. Time in Australia

_Hey, we're in Niall's. Food and FIFA. Come join?_

_Lou and H want time alone, I think._

**K be there soon.**

 

Liam's text wasn't a complete surprise. Louis had mentioned that he and Harry were having a bit of a date night after profuse apologies that it happened to come up during my visit. I assured them it was fine, but was immensely thankful for the other boys' invitation, having resigned myself to spending the evening alone watching whatever I could find on TV and hoping I didn't hear anything I shouldn't (not that it hadn't happened before).

I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a loose tank top before walking down the hall to Niall's room. They'd left the door propped open as they often did when they were all going in and out of one person's room. Privacy was not a thing that existed on tour.

"Hey, Riley," Liam greeted me as I pushed the door open. There were two beds, even though Niall was the only one sleeping in the room; Liam and Niall had opted out of sitting on either and were on the floor with their backs against the end of one bed, playing FIFA. Zayn and Josh were stomach down on the bed above them playing and Paddy was at the table by the window, eating a slice of pizza as he watched the game.

A chorus of hellos followed Liam's greeting, but Paddy was the first to gesture me over to grab a plate to eat. They acted immensely put out as I insisted they pause the game in order for me to reach the pizza. I felt lingering stares, or maybe glares, from all of them as I walked between them and the TV on my way to the promise of food.

"You all haven't got anything better to do tonight?" I asked the room at large as I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza.

After none of the boys playing FIFA answered, Paddy chuckled. "They haven't gotten time to do nothing lately. They're enjoying it while they can."

I settled onto the bed by Zayn's feet to watch the game. Zayn attempted to shove Josh off of the bed at one point, insisting he was cheating. Twenty minutes later, Niall cheered in victory, high-fiving Liam before all four boys scrambled to get up for food. Paddy and Josh left and I was alone with the three boys.

"What're Louis and Harry up to tonight?" Niall asked, innocently, between bites.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "What do you think?"

"Us singletons forget how the other half lives," Liam defended Niall with a laugh and a slap to his shoulder.

"Ah, yes. The single life," I replied, wistfully. "I wonder what that's like when you're a member of the hottest boy band in the world. Oh, wait, you could probably have any girl you want." I raised my eyebrows at Liam.

Niall chuckled. "Yeah, if only Liam wasn't such a relationship man."

"I'm not one to fuck 'em and leave 'em, there's nothing wrong with it," Liam insisted.

"Oh, is Niall the only one enjoying the life of the hot and famous?" I asked.

Niall raised his eyebrows at me. "Oh, you think I’m hot, huh, Riley?"

I blushed slightly. "Ehh," I tilted my head and squinted at him. "I think lilac hair could set you up to be a ten. Maybe even higher."

"You've been looking at punk edits, haven't you?" Zayn chuckled.

I played the offended card. "I was a fan before I signed up for this, and those punk edits are ho-amazing."

"Ah, you're into that, huh?" Zayn asked.

I eyed his tattoos, speculatively. "Sometimes." My eyes moved over to the tattoos on Liam's arm. "I'm just saying someone should dye their hair lilac at some point in this band." I looked Niall right in the eyes. "The fans would love it."

His eyes lit up slightly, a plan forming in his head. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, you were a fan first. I'm curious," Zayn paused with a smirk. "Who was your favorite? Were you always a Harry girl?"

"I always claimed to be a Harry girl. He was my first favorite, so you can't really switch, but I had my phases," I admitted.

"Phases?" Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you're all attractive," I insisted, looking down at my empty plate.

I could practically feel the look they were all sharing before I looked back up.

"We don't get to have these conversations with fans very often," Niall admitted, slowly.

I snorted. "I doubt you get much out of fans other than screaming and 'ohmygod, I love you.'"

"Some of them remain calm and they're very nice," Liam defended.

"No, no, I know. They're great, really. I just know you deal with a lot of screaming. Not much time to sit down and get to know them," I explained.

"How long were you a fan before all of this?" Liam asked, gesturing vaguely around the room, accurately summing up the absurdity of my situation in a small shrug.

"Okay, firstly, still totally a fan," I replied with a grin. "And I became a fan pretty much the day that your 'One Thing' video released. I saw a lot about this boy band on Tumblr and finally got curious."

"And you were a Harry girl right off?"

"As soon as he opened his mouth," I confirmed.

"So it was his voice?" Liam asked.

"Or his lips?" Niall asked with a scandalized look.

I laughed. "His voice."

"Okay, so who were you attracted to first? Physically?" Zayn asked.

"Seriously? Do we have to do this?" I pleaded.

"Come on. We won't be offended, right?" Zayn looked to the other two for nods.

"I already know it's not me, Riley. Who's your ten in the band?" Niall asked, rubbing his hands together.

"I am not answering this question. I'll say I had a phase for four out of five of you, okay? And the only reason I didn't have a phase for Louis was because before it got to that point, I'd accepted that he was in love with Harry," I replied. "You all have your ten traits, okay? Now, Niall," I glared at him. "Have you really been single the entire time you've been in One Direction?"

Niall glared back.

"He's set on being a free man," Zayn replied for him. "But he had a bit of a thing about six months ago. Didn't last long, but broke his heart a bit."

"Zayn --" Niall started.

"She's not going to tell anyone. She's under contract," Zayn cut him off.

"I wouldn't tell even if I wasn't under contract," I insisted. "It's nobody's business, I was just curious."

"Have you ever written fanfic?" Liam asked me with a smirk.

I laughed. "You think I'd admit that?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Liam replied. "Who'd you write about?"

"I never said it was One Direction fic," I insisted before realizing I hadn't actually admitted to anything.

Zayn and Niall laughed. "So you have written some," Liam confirmed.

"Nope. Too far. Next question," I replied. "Liam, are you really over Danielle?"

"Whoa, getting personal," Niall exclaimed.

Liam just stared at me for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I'm over her," he said, simple words, but his eyes seemed to be trying to convey so much more.

"Are you in love with Harry?" Liam asked.

"N-no," I insisted, trying to stop the blush from covering my cheeks. "It wouldn't matter anyways, Louis and him are perfect for each other."

They all seemed to sigh in sympathy.

"Zayn?" I asked after a moment. I waited for him to look at me before I posed my question for him. "Were you and Perrie originally a publicity stunt?"

His mouth opened slightly in shock before he shook his head. "It's not a publicity stunt. I love her."

"That wasn't the question," I reminded him.

"Okay, yeah, we met through a publicity stunt, but that doesn't mean--"

"No, no," I stop him. "I wasn't trying to question your feelings for her now, I was just curious."

"I don't want you thinking --" he started again.

"No, you're cute together. I just suspected it might've started out as a publicity stunt. Things change."

"Not for you," Liam muttered in my direction.

I squinted over at him, confused by his insistence that I remember that I'm not with Harry. I pushed him lightly on the shoulder. "Good thing I don't think I've got a chance with Harry."

"Are you really contractually obligated to only date Harry?" Niall asked. "You can't go out and get yourself a boyfriend or something if you keep it a secret?"

"What kind of boy would want me to be going around kissing another boy? A famous, gorgeous boy at that?" I asked, skeptical. "Besides, yeah, it's in my contract. No dating outside of Harry. It's too risky."

"I'm sure there're guys that would find you worth it," Zayn insisted with a glance between me and Liam.

I looked at Liam, thinking Zayn thought he was offended or something. "I'm not looking. It's easier to just stick to the contract. I mean, if I met someone and they could deal with it, cool, but I don't think that's going to be happening." I shrugged. "Besides, I spend most of my free time with you lot. It's not like I'd have a chance with any of you."

Zayn leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "You'd be surprised," he muttered before getting up and grabbing another plate from the table. I looked at him, confused, but he refused to say any more on the matter. Niall changed the topic of conversation and we were suddenly discussing the pros and cons of cheese pizza.

 

\---

 

"Sorry to leave you to your own devices last night," Louis apologized at breakfast. They'd insisted the three of us eat in their room, as they typically did when I was staying with them.

"Nah, it's fine. I had an enlightening time with Zayn, Niall, and Liam," I assured him with a smile.

"Good, I know they like spending time with you."

"We just like to keep you to ourselves," Harry added.

"What'd you guys talk about?" Louis asked.

"How I became a fan," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Harry girls forever," Louis laughed as he raised his hand for a high-five. I quickly high-fived him with a grin and Harry just rolled his eyes at our antics.

 

\---

 

"I'm gonna miss you," I pouted. It was my last night in Australia and the three of us were lying in bed together, curled up, watching a movie.

"I'll see you in a little over a month," Harry reminded me.

"Yeah, but you'll be in a totally different time zone and all our calls and texts will be confusing because of it. And I won't get to see Louis for who knows how long."

"You're coming for my birthday party," Louis insisted.

"I am?" It was the first I'd heard of it.

"Of course, we usually do a party for New Year's Eve since it's so close to Christmas. You're coming, of course."

"Private party or publicity party?" I asked.

"Private party with very few pictures going public. Close friends and family," Harry told me. "Katherine will insist on a picture of the two of us, but I doubt it'll be much more than that. You won't have to play the girlfriend role."

"Awesome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be two sequels after this story. A bit of a choose your own adventure. There will be the threesome sequel and there will be another sequel that has Riley getting into a relationship with one of the other boys.
> 
> There will be at least five more chapters in this fic before it ends, though, so don't rush off. :)
> 
> Comments/kudos appreciated! :)


	16. An American Holiday

**_Should I listen now or wait for the official release?_ **

_Don't you dare._

**_It was just a question._ **

**_:( Sorry it leaked._ **

_This was why we didn't let you have a copy._

_You'd be suspected if we had._

 

\---

 

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Harry answered the phone during the Zouis hour on 1DDay.

"Just watching you all make fools of yourselves," I told him from my place in front of my laptop.

"How many people will notice that the only couple that doesn't get an hour is Larry?" Harry asked.

I laughed. "Everyone. Everyone will notice, but we all know how you two get on screen even when the other boys are present. You aren't exactly subtle."

Harry sighed. "I know, I just think it was a stupid plan."

"Tell Niall 'thank you' for me."

"What for?" Harry asked, confused.

"Totally my request that he dye his hair," I admitted.

"He said it was a fan thing."

"Yep, it is, I just planted the idea more thoroughly. He looks good like that. Tell him to keep it."

Harry chuckled. "I don't think he'll be keeping it."

 

\---

 

**_I bought your album this morning ;)_ **

 

I sent the text to Louis and Harry with a little grin on my face.

"Texting your boyfriend?" my mother asked from across the breakfast table. I'd arrived home the night before and was dreading dealing with my family's feelings about my 'relationship' with Harry.

"Yeah," I answered with a grin in her direction. "Just letting him know I bought their new album."

"He couldn't have just given it to you?" she asked, skeptically.

"That's not the point, Mom," I shook my head. "I'm contributing to getting it to number one. I'm supporting him."

"He's still coming for Thanksgiving, right?" she asked.

"Yes, he's coming on Wednesday and we're heading back to my place after dinner on Thursday. He has to head to LA for more promo for the album next week."

"Glad he could squeeze us into his busy schedule," my mother muttered. I sent her a small glare but chose not to answer as my phone beeped with incoming text messages.

 

**Thanks, love ;) What do you think?**

_**Strong is definitely my second favorite on the album.** _

**Oh? What's first?**

_**Harry's Happily.** _

**I'm fond of that one myself ;)**

 

_What do you think?_

**_It's amazing._ **

_Louis says you like Happily. ;D_

**_Definitely my fave._ **

_Good thing, since publicity says I've wrote it for *you*_

**_Haha. If only._ **

_We'll find someone to write you a love song, babe. ;D_

 

\---

 

"What do you do for a living, Harry?" Uncle Roger asked. I chuckled, quickly covering it with a cough.

"I'm a musician," Harry answered, acting like he wasn't surprised by the question. "I sing and write songs, mostly." Then again, he didn't like to assume people knew anything about him, so maybe he wasn't surprised by the question.

"Are you any good? I mean, that's not the best career choice, you know. Not many people make it," my uncle insisted.

"Uncle Roger, have you heard of One Direction?" I asked, halting Harry's answer with a hand to his arm.

"They're that band that Reagan likes," he shrugged, confused by what he thought was a change of topic. Reagan, my thirteen-year-old cousin and his daughter, had a poster of Harry on her wall the last time I'd been there.

"Does she still have that poster of Harry Styles behind her door?" I asked, keeping my hand on Harry's arm to keep him from interrupting. A small smirk crossed his face at my question.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with your boyfriend here being able to make it in the music industry?" Uncle Roger asked, gesturing vaguely towards Harry.

"Well, I mean, that pictures a couple years old, but I didn't think Harry had changed so much that you wouldn't recognize him."

Uncle Roger squinted at me in confusion for a second before looking at Harry. Realization dawned on his face after a moment and he chuckled. "I guess I don't need to worry about you being taken care of, huh, Riley?"

"This explains Reagan's excitement at seeing him, now, too, doesn't it?" I laughed.

 

\---

 

"Have you ever been in a long distance relationship?" My father was taking his turn at grilling Harry. They'd all given me their say before, but hadn't gotten the chance to tell him that I wasn't worth his time.

"No, sir," Harry admitted. "It's a bit of a learning experience." We were sitting on the couch together in the living room, my dad in the recliner.

"How often do you get time off?"

"We get a few days here and there while we're on tour, but I try to squeeze in time to see Riley whenever I can," Harry assured him.

"Are you sure it's worth it? I mean, most long distance relationships don't work out. You aren't even living in the same country when you aren't touring."

"I'm aware of the statistics, but there hasn't been a reason for Riley to move yet. We've only been together about…?" he paused looking to me for an answer.

"Four months," I supplied.

"So you don't take this relationship seriously? Riley, don't you want to move to London?" my father asked, raising his eyebrows skeptically.

"Dad, he doesn't need to ask me to move in with him just because he's touring all the time," I insisted. "That's stupid logic."

"He doesn't even know how long you've been together," my father pointed out.

"So?" I replied, shrugging dramatically. He knows when his anniversary with his actual boyfriend is, that's all that really matters, I thought to myself.

"How do you know he doesn't have a different girl in his bed every night?"

I raised my eyebrows at him and was just about to tell him off when Harry replied: "I'm in a very committed relationship. I'm not one to cheat."

I held back the smirk that was fighting to cross my face. Way to be vague, I told him with a lively glance.

"I trust him, Dad," I insisted.

 

\---

 

"Why can't you stay a little longer?" Reagan begged as Harry went to grab our coats out of the back bedroom.

"She doesn't want to keep up the charade," Lillian, my eighteen-year-old cousin, told her as soon as Harry was out of earshot.

"Excuse me?" I grabbed her arm to make her look at me.

"There's no freaking way you landed Harry Styles, Riley," she exclaimed, pulling her arm away. "We're not stupid."

"What? I'm not pretty enough? Not successful enough? Or is it just because of him? He couldn't possibly take a second look at someone as low on the totem pole as me?" I asked, offended.

"He's dated _Taylor Swift,_ Riley, why would you think he'd move on from her to _you_?" Lillian insisted.

"Because she's amazing," Harry replied, suddenly reappearing at my side and handing me my coat. "Don't idolize Taylor so much, she's just a girl who got her dream, just like I'm a boy who just got his. It doesn't make her any better than Riley just like it doesn't make me any better than anyone else."

Lillian was torn between being embarrassed or angry at his arrival.

"Riley is who I want, alright? I don't understand why you who have known her your whole life don't see how incredible I've realized she is in only a few months," Harry stated. I noticed the whole room had gone quiet and most of my family was sitting there trying to pretend they weren't listening to us. Harry shrugged his way into his coat and then turned to help me get mine on.

"Reagan, I'm sure Harry would take a picture with just you if you asked nicely," I told her. She was the only one that hadn't said anything mean to me the whole visit, but, then again, I was dating her celebrity crush.

"Please, Harry," she immediately responded, pulling her phone out of her pocket. He grinned and leaned down to slip his arm around her as she pulled up the camera and snapped a picture of them.

"One more," I heard him mutter into her ear before kissing her on the cheek. I heard the camera click as I saw her face absolutely light up at the contact. "Alright, we've got to go," Harry told her. "It was lovely to meet you, Reagan."

"Thanks, Harry. See you at Christmas?" she asked.

"No, I think Riley's gonna come spend it in London," he apologized, shooting me a small grin.

 

\---

 

"I'm spending Christmas in London?" I asked him as soon as we'd made our way out to his rental car.

"I didn't get the vibe that you like your family that much, so I thought you'd rather come spend it with mine," he replied with a grin. "Besides, Lou'll be totally fine with it. He was asking me if I thought we should invite you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments/kudos appreciated.  
> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> Any requests on sequel events is welcome haha I'm thinking about doing a Niall one as well after all that flirting with him...


	17. Christmas Eve Eve and The Avengers Argument

"I like having you here," Louis commented as he entered the kitchen. Harry had already left for a meeting and I was busy at the stove making our breakfast.

"You just like having someone else here to cook for you," I laughed.

"Well, there are more perks than that for you being here," he insisted.

"Modest! stays off your back? You're less suspected of being outted with me around?" I asked.

"Well, and you're a pretty face to wake up to when my boy isn't here," Louis added with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes as I flipped over a pancake. "How early are we leaving for Christmas with your family tomorrow?"

"Eight, I believe, so we can make it in time for lunch. We're staying the night there and then going on to Anne's the next day and we'll be back here that night."

"Just in time for Christmas Eve, aka your birthday," I concluded.

"Yep, we thought it'd be nice to have Christmas at home. We're having a few people over for dinner, but other than that, it'll just be me, you, and Harry, I think."

"A few people? Like who?" I asked, thinking it was just supposed to be us for Christmas.

"It's a few stragglers who decided to stay in London for the holidays or had to work. Lou's family, Liam's parents are in town, so they're all coming," Louis listed off the people as I brought the plate of pancakes to the table. "Grimmy might stop by." Louis pulled a disgusted face. "He's got to work that day. Ben and his family might come by as well."

"Bit of a random bunch of people, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're usually at one of our family's, but I really wanted to be home for my birthday and neither of us wanted to drive on Christmas," he explained.

"So I'm crashing your Christmas alone together?" I frowned at him.

"You were invited, Riley," Louis shook his head. "Stop thinking you're intruding."

"I can't help it," I pouted.

"I promise, if we didn't want you here, we wouldn't have invited you."

"I can leave for your birthday, though, if you want. I mean, if you and Harry want the place to yourselves, I could probably stay at Liam's or something. I'd rather wake up here on Christmas, but I could escape the night we get back and give you that night alone."

"I don't want to kick you out," Louis insisted.

"No, if you guys want a little alone time, I can ask Liam. Or Lou. Or someone, I don't know."

"I'm sure Liam would be happy to take care of you for the evening," Louis assured me with a little smirk.

I squinted at him in confusion, but he ignored my reaction, choosing to pull out his phone to call Liam.

"Hey, Liam, I have a bit of a favor to ask," he spoke into the phone between large bits of pancakes doused in syrup. "When're your parents coming?...Okay, yeah…Well, my birthday is…yes, I know…well, we're doing our family stuff early, as you know…yeah, she's here…no, we aren't kicking her out, she's volunteered…no, not Christmas Eve…we're getting back the night before, I was thinking we could drop her off at your place that night, if you don't mind her staying…just the night, yes…no, she's waking up with us on Christmas…yes…yes…no…she's fine with it…" He glanced up at me. "She's right here if you want to talk to her…" and suddenly I was being handed the phone.

"Liam?" I asked, giving Louis a confused look.

"Hey, Riley," Liam responded. "Are they kicking you out? It's fine if you want to come stay here."

"No, we're going to their family things tomorrow and then we'll be back the 23rd, I was just gonna come stay that night, if it's okay."

"Yeah, absolutely, my parents are supposed to get here on Christmas Eve, but you're welcome as long as you want," he assured me.

"I wanted to spend Christmas morning with Louis and Harry. And I don't want to intrude on your family thing, either."

"You wouldn't be intruding," he assured me.

"I'll probably just come back here that afternoon, let these two sleep in after their birthday celebrations."

Louis smirked at me from across the table.

"Okay, yeah, just text me when you get back in town and are on your way over."

"Thanks, Liam."

"Anything for you, babe," he assured me before hanging up.

 

\---

 

"Are you sure you want to go to Liam's tonight?" Harry asked for the hundredth time of our three-hour drive.

"Louis should get you to himself tonight," I assured him again. "This way there's no need for headphones on my part and no thinking about anyone else on your part."

Harry sighed. "I think I could easily focus on Louis with you in the house. I've done it plenty of times before."

"Yes, I've overheard enough before. I don't need to overhear birthday sex. And you can have the whole house. Just please don't do anything in my room?" I begged.

Louis chuckled as Harry let out a laugh. "No worries, love, we'll stay out of your room."

"And sanitize any surfaces in the kitchen as needed, please," I added.

They just laughed in response. "Go ahead and tell Liam we'll be there soon," Louis told me.

 

\---

 

"There's a pizza on the way. Hope you haven't eaten, I don't think I need to eat the whole thing," Liam remarked after the lovebirds had left us.

"I don't think your abs would suffer too much over one pizza," I assured him with a playful slap to his stomach before walking past him to sit on the couch. "But, no, I haven't ate yet."

He gave me a look that had me suddenly realizing that I had never touched him beyond a handshake or a nudge to the shoulder.

"What toppings did you get?" I asked, ignoring the sudden wave of tension in the room.

"I went for plain ol' pepperoni," he replied, walking over to sit on the couch as well, placing at least two feet of separation between us.

"Why aren't your sisters coming for Christmas this year?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"They're both going to their boyfriends' places. They're supposed to come down to do some shopping with my mum on Boxing Day," he replied with a shrug.

 The doorbell rang, cutting off further conversation as he went to pay for the pizza. I heard an excited "Liam!" from the girl delivering pizza and I quickly made sure I was out of sight. Wouldn't do well to have someone say Harry's girl was having pizza with Liam on Christmas Eve Eve. He seemed to take care of the situation pretty quickly, reappearing after a few moments and giving me a weird look upon seeing that I had switched seats.

"I didn't want to be recognized," I explained with a shrug as I followed him into the kitchen.

"Ah, Harry's girl at his mate's house, yeah, could cause some questions."

"The Larry shippers would have a heyday," I assured him.

"That they would." He nodded, placing the pizza on the kitchen table and popping the box open. "The plates are in that cabinet," he told me, pointing above the microwave as he pulled a piece of pizza out of the box and immediately took a bite.

"Hungry?" I teased, walking over to the indicated cabinet.

He just grinned as I handed him a plate. Loading up our plates with a few slices each, we wandered back into his living room, sitting back on the couch.

"I'm in the middle of watching _The Avengers_ ," Liam told me, pulling the movie back up on Netflix.

"Awesome, I love that movie," I replied with a grin.

 

\---

 

"Which Avenger would you want to be?" Liam asked me after the movie had ended.

"Would I want to be? Iron Man. Well, or Captain America," I reconsidered. "No, I think Iron Man."

"Iron Man's got the gadgets, but Captain America's got the brawn," Liam argued.

"Tony Stark flirts with everything that walks and could pretty much get anyone he wanted; ergo, he could get with Captain America aka Steve Rogers. And wouldn't you rather _get_ with the hot one, rather than _be_ the hot one?" I asked.

"Surely that's not the basis of your argument." He rolled his eyes at me.

"You _are_ the hot one and can _get_ the hot one, too, stupid question. Which would you want to be?" I asked, rolling my eyes back at him with a grin.

"You're picking based on how attractive they are?" he protested.

"No, I'm picking Iron Man because he's a genius and he knows how to have fun and he gets to kick some bad guy's ass on the side. Being attractive is just a perk," I assured him. "Now, which would you choose?"

"I like Captain America. He's smart and he's a good leader."

"Of course," I chuckled.

"What? Captain America is a totally valid choice," he insisted.

"He absolutely is. And you fit that so well. I mean, pretty boy that wants to save the world. Totally you."

"Pretty boy?" he asked, with a small glare.

"Insert whatever adjective you like. He's totally the one you have the most in common with, too."

"Thanks, I think?" he replied, unsure of the compliment.

"Yeah, it's a good thing. Who doesn't want to be like Captain America?"

"Well, I mean," he said, looking up with a teasing glance. "You'd rather get in Captain America's pants, sooo…"

I smacked his shoulder. "Every American wants to get in Captain America's pants," I insisted. "That includes the men, I think."

 

\---

 

"How'd you sleep?" Liam asked as I entered the kitchen. He was wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants, sitting low on his hips.

I stretched my neck side-to-side, listening to it crack. "Sleeping on the couch half the night wasn't the best decision," I conceded. We'd proceeded to watch _Captain America_ and _Iron Man_ in order to compare the qualities of the two superheroes and I'd woken up on Liam's shoulder somewhere in the middle of _Iron Man_ , shaking him awake before I shuffled off to his guest room.

"Deciding to watch two more movies probably wasn't the best decision." He nodded.

"When are your--parents getting here?" I asked, yawning.

"Any time, I think," he shrugged. The doorbell rang at that moment. "That's either them or Louis and Harry missed you an awful lot." He chuckled, going to answer the door.

"I should probably get dressed if that's your parents," I called back to him, heading back to the guest room.

"Don't get dressed on our account," I heard a man's voice chuckle in response. I dashed into the guest room to get dressed, blushing profusely. I'd never met Liam's parents yet and this wasn't exactly the way I'd planned on meeting them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is approximately 4-5 chapters left, they are unwritten. This chapter was supposed to be Christmas though and that didn't happen, so things happen and it may be more than that, but it'll be at least that before the choose your own sequel.
> 
> Comments/kudos appreciated!


	18. Christmas Eve and a Loud Birthday Boy

"Mum, Dad, this is Riley," Liam introduced me as I reentered the living room, fully clothed.

"We didn't realize that Liam had a guest," his mum told me with a smile. "Please, call me Karen."

"It's nice to meet you," I replied with an embarrassed smile. "It was kind of a last minute thing. I was just trying to give the boys a little privacy. It being Lou's birthday today and all."

"Ah," his dad replied, sending a small smirk towards Liam. "That's all this is."

"Dad, she's Harry's girl," Liam reminded him.

"And we all know the story behind that." He rolled his eyes. "Riley, have you moved to London yet?"

I shook my head as I sat on the arm of the chair Liam was occupying. "I haven't. I just get flown in whenever they need me or invite me, in this case."

"They invited you, just to kick you out?" his dad exclaimed.

"Exactly what I said, Dad," Liam laughed.

"It wasn't like that," I insisted. "I just thought they'd want some time alone for Lou's birthday."

"Are you staying the night tonight as well?" Karen asked with a gentle smile.

"No, no, I'll be out of your way as soon as Louis and Harry are up," I assured her. "I told them to sleep in, but we'll see how that goes."

She laughed. "Those boys must really like you to be inviting you to spend Christmas with them."

"They're my best friends," I replied. "Luckily, they like to keep me around."

"Just friends?" his dad muttered.

"She may be half in love with the both of them, but we're forgiving her for it," Liam smirked at me.

"Shut up," I muttered, frowning at him. "Is anyone that knows Harry not half in love with him?"

"Point taken," his mom replied with a laugh. "He does have that charm about him."

"Try faking being his girlfriend." I rolled my eyes.

 

\---

 

"Riley!" Louis doesn't even bother knocking, just entering Liam's house like it's his own. "We're back! Was Liam nice? Did he feed you? Oh, hi, Karen and Geoff," he greeted Liam's parents as he entered the living room.

"I know how to take care of a person." Liam rolled his eyes.

Louis looked at me for confirmation, ignoring Liam's words.

"Hi, Karen; hi, Geoff," Harry said, slipping a hand around Louis's waist as he enters.

I grin at the contact and then roll my eyes at Louis. "I don't need taking care of, but yes, he fed me. He was nice. What did you expect?"

Louis seems to be having a conversation with Liam through eye contact alone until Harry clears his throat. "Nothing, of course," Louis replied, a little too chipper at the answer.

"Happy birthday, Louis," Karen greeted the boys. "Good to see you, Harry."

"How're you two doing?" Geoff asked from his place on the couch, shooting a quick glance my way. I rolled my eyes when he's not looking and Liam chuckles next to me.

"We're great," Harry replied with a grin.

"I bet you are," I coughed. Liam nudged my arm as if to say 'my parents are present' and I grinned at him.

"Any big plans for your birthday, Louis?" Karen asked.

"Quiet day at home with my two favorite people," Louis replied, smiling.

"We're making him dinner," I informed her, gesturing between Harry and myself.

"You are?" Louis asked, surprised at the news.

"Yes, my love, we are," Harry replied, kissing the side of his head lightly.

Louis grinned.

"I hope you're still planning to come over for Christmas dinner?" Louis asked Liam's parents.

"Of course, we'd love to. Thank you for inviting us," Karen assured him.

"It's gonna be a bit of a random bunch, but it should be a good time."

"You ready, Riley?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, we'll get out of your hair," I grinned, running back to the guest room to grab my bag. I turned and almost ran into Liam, who I didn't realize had followed me.

"I had fun last night," he told me as we walked back towards the front door.

"Yeah, me, too," I assured him with a grin.

"We should do it again, sometime."

"If I need to escape, I know who to call," I replied. "Thanks."

 

\---

 

"Don't make him cut himself--or you," I rebuked as Louis wrapped his arms around Harry, leaning in to place a kiss just under his ear. Harry was in the middle of chopping up the potatoes for dinner, so I had a right to be worried. Those two should not be allowed sharp objects if they're touching each other at all--such distractions!

"I would never!" Louis exclaimed, shooting me a friendly glare as he backed away from Harry and propped himself up on the counter to watch us.

"I've seen your influence on Harry, let me remind you," I told him as I continued my task of wrapping the chicken breasts in foil. "That boy gets starry-eyed when you touch him--"

"I do not!" Harry insisted.

"Do, too," Louis and I replied together.

Harry pouted, turning his attention back to the potatoes. Mere seconds later, Louis is back off of the counter and wrapping his arms around the boy again.

"You two are ridiculous," I muttered, continuing my task.

"Is Riley jealous?" Louis asked and suddenly his arms were wrapped around my waist. "Do you need some loving from the birthday boy?" he whispered huskily in my ear before smacking a kiss against my cheek.

I blushed, shoving him away. "I'm trying to get the birthday boy's dinner in the oven," I reminded him.

Louis smirked and returned to his place atop the counter, pinching Harry's butt as he passes him. "Yes, ma'am, I'll just sit here until you've finished," he retorted.

"We're almost done, anyways, Lou," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"And you had your hands all over him all night," I added. "Is it like a drug? The more you get, the more you want or something?"

Louis chuckled. "You've kissed Harry, why don't you tell me?" He raised an eyebrow in challenge as I turned to him in shock.

"I don't think--"

"He's a good kisser?" Louis cut me off.

"I didn't say that," I replied a bit too fast. Harry chuckled.

"I taught him everything he knows, babe, just remember that," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes and started placing the chicken into the oven. "I'll never know if the student has surpassed the teacher, then, will I?"

Harry's chuckle turned into a cough as Louis gave me a look that I couldn't interpret.

 

\---

 

"Dinner was delicious." Louis leaned over to kiss Harry gently on the lips. "Thank you both," he said, looking to me with a grin.

"Happy birthday again," I told him.

"Happy birthday, love," Harry repeated, kissing him again.

"I didn't know what to get you for your birthday," I started.

"Dinner was enough, you don't need to get me anything," Louis assured me.

"It's nothing big," I assured him, handing him a flat box with a simple bow.

He let go of Harry's hand long enough to tear it open.

"Riley-" he said, his voice filled with awe.

"I might've caught the two of you during an afternoon nap--"

"I didn't know you could draw," Louis said, holding the framed sketch out for Harry to see. It was the two of them, asleep, wrapped in each other's arms. I'd found them asleep on the couch one day during my previous visit and couldn't resist. When it came time to find a birthday present for Louis, I'd pulled it out again, adding a bit of color and framing it.

"Wow, Riley," Harry remarked, taking the frame from Louis's hands. "You're really talented."

"I love it," Louis told me, standing to pull me up into a hug. "It's perfect."

 

\---

 

"Do we really have to?" Louis asked, again.

"Yes! It's a Christmas tradition. I always read it," I replied, again.

"C'mon, Lou." Harry tugged him back over to the couch. "You read it."

We shoved him down onto the couch and cuddled up to either side of him, placing the book in his hands. He growled a final protest before opening the book.

"'Twas the night before Christmas," Louis read, monotone.

"No, boo," Harry pouted.

"You've got to be happy. It's Christmas!" I insisted.

"And allll through the house, not a creature was stirring--not even a mouse," Louis read dramatically.

"I knew that boy who wanted to be an actor was still in there somewhere," I teased, poking him in the side. He shot me a small glare before continuing.

"The stocking were hung, by the chimney with care," Louis continued. "In hopes that Saint Nicholas would soon be there."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is next! Written and beta'd! Will post Thursday.
> 
> Comments/kudos appreciated, as always. Thanks for reading.
> 
> And I'd love to hear who wants to read the Liam sequel and who plans to read the threesome sequel, just because I'm curious. They are both started and will be posted upon completion of this one.


	19. But It's Christmas!

"Boys!" I exclaimed, shaking Harry's arm where it was wrapped around Louis, effectively disturbing both boys' sleep.

"Riley," Harry mumbled, shoving my hand away.

"It's Christmas, wake up!" I insisted.

"No," Louis said, grabbing my hand as I reached out to start shaking them awake again. "Go back to sleep." He pulled me into the bed with them; it was a king-size, so it wasn't like there wasn't room, and I ended up half-on-top of the side of Harry that wasn't already covered by Louis.

I adjusted myself so that I was actually lying next to him, but Harry immediately reached out to pull me into his chest the way he was doing with Louis. "Christmas cuddles," he mumbled.

"You two are ridiculous," I muttered, settling into Harry's chest, deciding it wasn't a battle worth fighting this morning, no matter how much I was looking forward to opening presents.

 

\---

 

"Okay, really, we should get up," I insisted after dozing in and out with the two boys for an hour or so.

They both mumbled their arguments, Louis reaching over to cover my mouth.

"Sleep," he insisted.

"Louis, it's Christmas," I reminded him. "Presents and food and people are coming this afternoon."

"Already got presents," Louis mumbled back.

"Not hungry," Harry protested.

"Christmas cartoons are on, though," I said as a last ditch effort at getting them out of bed.

Harry's face lit up slightly as his eyes opened. "Lou, we should see if Frosty's on," he whined.

"We have the DVD," Louis replied, holding his eyes shut and refusing to acknowledge both of our stares.

"That's not the saaaame, babe," I protested with a smirk.

He cracked one eye open to look at me. "Babe?"

"You're awake," I sat up, pulling at Harry's arm to get him to do the same. "We can go watch Christmas cartoons and you can give me my present."

"Who said we got you a present?" Louis glared after being deprived of his 'pillow'.

I just grinned. "You think I didn't look under the tree before coming in here this morning?" I asked. "Besides, I've got gifts for you two, as well."

"Fine, I'm getting up," Louis groaned.

Harry and I jumped out of bed, much more awake than the older boy. Harry pulled the comforter off of the bed to drag into the living room couch. Louis protested and stumbled his way out of bed to follow us.

 

\---

 

I tore the wrapping off of the small box, biting my lip nervously as they both watched. It was a jewelry box, as I'd suspected, and I popped the top open to reveal a small diamond studded key, silver with white diamonds except for the center of the small star at the top that was a yellow diamond.

"It's gorgeous," I gasped.

"We hoped you'd like it," Louis replied with a small smile.

"Here, let me put it on you," Harry insisted, taking the box from my hands where I was still staring at it. I didn't think I'd ever owned anything so pretty.

"But I'm not even dressed," I protested, looking down at the pajama pants and tank that I was still wearing.

"It doesn't matter," Harry assured me. "It's Christmas. You have to wear it."

 

\---

 

"Guys," I mumbled, shoving Harry's arm away from where he'd had it wrapped around me. "Guys, we fell back asleep. I think somebody's at the door." I heard another knock knock knock. "Who is it?" I yelled towards the door as the boys slowly started to wake up and squint at me in confusion. I started to get up, but Harry grabbed me, forcing me to sit back down as he stumbled up to go answer the door.

"Wha's goin' on?" Louis mumbled as soon as Harry moved away from him, accidentally pulling the blanket away from both of us, since he had been in the middle.

"Somebody's here," I replied. "We fell back asleep."

"Sorry, are we early?" I heard Liam's mom ask. I groaned, thinking this was the second morning they'd arrived somewhere that I wasn't dressed.

"You look fine," Louis assured me with an eye roll as he adjusted himself closer to me, pulling the blanket back up and laying his head against my shoulder.

"We sort of fell back to sleep," Harry was telling them as he led them back into the living room. He hadn't gotten dressed yet, either, still only wearing a pair of pajama pants. I silently thanked the gods that he was at least dressed that much this morning as he was usually walking around in a pair of boxers, if I was lucky.

"I can see that," Geoff chuckled upon entering the room.

"Lou, we gotta get up," I muttered.

"Been watching cartoons?" Liam asked, walking over to sit next to me as if nothing was unusual about the room.

Harry escaped to the kitchen to start preparing the food. I'd helped him finish a lot of it last night so that there wouldn't be much to do today beyond reheating or finishing things off.

Karen laughed as Liam kicked his shoes off and found his way under the blanket, laying his head on my unoccupied shoulder. She wandered off to help Harry in the kitchen as I continued to insist that I should get up and both boys continued to hold me hostage.

"That's a very nice necklace," Geoff commented after watching us for a few moments, pointing to my Christmas present from Harry and Louis that was hanging around my neck.

I touched it self-consciously with a smile. "Thank you; it's from Louis and Harry."

Geoff's eyebrows rose slightly, but didn't reply.

 

\---

 

"Riley, this is Nick," Harry introduced us. "Nick, this is Riley."

"Lovely to meet you, doll," Nick replied, eyeing me up and down.

I kept myself from squirming under his appraisal, smiling and offering to shake his hand. "I've heard a lot about you." He took my hand and shook it, but his grip was all loose and I reminded myself how much you could tell about a person by their handshake. "Is your boyfriend going to be joining us?" I asked.

"No, he's gone home for the holidays," Nick shrugged.

"And he didn't want to take you with him?"

"I insisted he go without me," Nick protested, shooting a small glare at me.

"Nick's stuck working through the holidays," Harry reminded me.

I shot him a grimace. "That must suck."

"It's not so bad. At least I still get Christmas dinner with this handsome lad," he said, lightly poking Harry in the side. Harry laughed before someone called him back into the kitchen.

"So what's the deal with you?" I asked as soon as Harry was out of earshot.

"What d'you mean, babe?" He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Louis doesn't seem to like you, I'm just trying to figure out why exactly that is," I answered.

"Lou has a jealous streak, if you hadn't noticed. I'm surprised he gets on with you."

"I don't hit on his boyfriend very often, but there's no way that's the only reason he dislikes you."

"Louis and I get on just fine," Nick insisted.

"Alright, I'll drop it for now," I said, noticing Liam approaching. "But I'll figure it out, because if Louis doesn't like you, I'm probably not going to either."

Nick shot me a small glare before Liam stepped in.

"Can I borrow her from you, Nick?" Liam asked, ever the gentleman, even though he could tell I wanted away from the creep.

"Absolutely, take her away," Nick replied, shooting a suggestive glance between the two of us before wandering away to talk to Lou and her husband.

"You alright?" Liam asked, looking warily at Nick.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Just asking why it is that Louis doesn't like him."

Liam shot me a slightly panicked look before quickly covering it. "You haven't asked Louis?"

"Louis won't outright tell me. It's just fairly obvious that he doesn't."

"I wouldn't push it, Ri. There's bad blood there."

"Ooo, now I really want to know. Should I hate the bastard?" I whispered.

"He's still one of Harry's friends, okay? They get on fine, overall. Louis just doesn't like him."

"Okay, fine. I'll know when I'm supposed to know."

Liam sighed at my response, glancing around the room before his eyes settle back on me. "Have I told you that you look lovely today?"

I giggled slightly at the unexpected comment. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry about my parents," he muttered.

"What? They're great."

"I mean, they just keep implying--"

"Oh," I cut him off. "It's fine. I don't mind. Don't worry about it," I assure him with a grin.

Liam smiled back at me and looked like he was just about to say something else when Harry reappeared from the kitchen, announcing that the food is ready. Liam's hand moved to rest on my lower-back as he led me into the kitchen to grab food.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Thank you for reading :)
> 
> Coming up: Louis's birthday party/New Year's Eve


	20. New Year's Eve aka Louis's Birthday Party

Louis linked his arm through mine and led me through the crowded room.

"Where's Harry?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Making the rounds," he replied, nodding into a corner where Harry, Nick, and a few others were talking.

"Oh, Grimmy," I muttered.

"I was just going to re-introduce you to a friend of mine," Louis assured me. It took a few more steps before I realized who he was leading me towards as I spotted the ginger talking to Liam and Niall.

I tried to stop, but Louis just grinned, slowly pulling me forwards.

"It's just Ed, Riley," he reminded me. "You've met him before."

"Ah, Harry's kept this one around longer than I'd expected," Ed commented as Louis and I joined the trio. I blushed slightly, looking away, before I heard Liam start to chuckle.

"We quite like her, actually," Louis insisted.

"They won't let anyone else near her," Niall laughed.

Liam leaned towards me, whispering. "Starstruck? And here you are dating Harry Styles and on the arm of Louis Tomlinson."

I glared at him. "Shut up."

He just chuckled again.

"Liam picking on you, love?" Louis asked, pulling us both back into the conversation.

I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

 

\---

 

"Happy birthday, dear Louis, happy birthday to you," the whole room sang to Louis as he stood in front of his cake. He blew out the candles all in one go and of course Harry made a comment about how good of a blower he was and everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

I grabbed a piece of cake and wandered over to sit next to Zayn and Perrie.

"Hey, how are you two?" I asked. "Enjoying time off at the same time?"

They both chuckled lightly. "It's nice to see each other for more than a few days in a row," Perrie replied.

"I'm surprised you haven't just moved to London as much as you've been here when we're on break," Zayn told me.

"I can't just move to London, Zayn." I shook my head. "I'd have to find a job and a place to live and yeah, I don't think that's happening any time soon."

"I'm sure we could help you with all of that," Zayn replied. "Whenever you do decide to move."

 

\---

 

"You better find Harry, it's almost midnight," I muttered to Louis.

He gave me a confused look before squeezing my hand with a frown. "You don't have anyone to kiss at midnight."

I rolled my eyes. "I've survived before, I'm sure I can survive now."

"Okay," Louis replied. "If Harry comes this way tell him I'm heading that way," he told me, pointing towards the food on the other side of the room.

"Deal."

 

\---

 

"I hear you need someone to kiss at midnight," I heard a British voice in my ear and immediately am blushing as I turn around to find Ed standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Seriously? Was it Louis or Harry?" I asked him, shooting a glance towards the clock. I heard people counting down and realized I wasn't going to escape whether I wanted to or not.  
Ed grinned. "Both. No worries. Everybody's gotta have somebody to kiss at midnight."

"Nine, eight," I joined in the counting down with a roll of my eyes, grinning at him.

"Six, five," he grinned and started counting down with me and the rest of the room, settling his hand against my waist.

My hand moved to his shoulder, giving in to the inevitable. Only my two best friends would set me up to be kissed by the Ed Sheeran on New Year's Eve.

"Three, two, one," we both said in sync and then he leaned in to kiss me. He kept it simple and quick, brushing his lips across mine for only a moment before he was leaning back, grinning at me.

"What a way to start the New Year," I told him with a grin.

"Indeed."

"Riley!!!" Harry yelled as he and Louis approached us. I shook my head at the both of them, trying to send them a glare. Harry walked up and kissed the glare right off of my face. I melted into him, as I always did when he took me off guard. It was why we were so good at this publicity stunt, he knew how to push my buttons and keep it looking real. He pulled away after a moment and I looked over at Louis guiltily.  Louis just grinned, holding out Harry's phone that he'd had in his hand. He'd snapped a picture of us and I realized the reason for the kiss, immediately. I frowned slightly.

"Katherine will love that," I muttered.

Louis was suddenly kissing my cheek, whispering in my ear. "He kissed you because he wanted to. Everyone deserves kisses on New Year's Eve," he assured me.

My expression lightened and I leaned in to see what Harry was tweeting with the picture attached.

 

_Happy I get to start the New Year off right, surrounded by people who love me._

 

"Yep, Modest! will love it," Louis agreed with a smirk.

 

\---

 

"What was up with that?" Liam asked as we were leaving.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Kissing Ed," he clarified.

I laughed. "Oh, that. Everyone deserves a kiss at midnight, right?"

"I didn't get a kiss at midnight," Liam pouted.

"Well, maybe you should've asked somebody sooner. I just got set up by Louis and Harry," I replied, quirking an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure they could've found somebody for you." I chuckled, thinking of who they would've gotten to kiss Liam, maybe Grimmy?

"I don't need set up by Louis and Harry," Liam muttered, walking away towards his car.

I stared after him for a moment, confused by the short conversation before Louis waved me over to his car where he and Harry were waiting.

"What was that about?" Louis asked as I got into the backseat.

"Liam's in need of a little loving," I chuckled.

Louis and Harry shared a look in the front seat.

"Did he-"

"He didn't-" they both started and then stopped, staring at me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Never mind," Louis said, quickly turning to face the front.

 

\---

 

_Well done last night._

 

"Katherine's happy," I told Harry and Louis at breakfast, flashing the text message at them.

"Yep, I got the same message," Harry told me around a mouthful of Cheerios.

"We did get trending on Twitter," I informed Harry, scrolling through the feed on my phone.

"Oh?"

"Well, you two did, too, but still-" I grinned. "Us trending is what Katherine's happy about."

Louis pulled out his phone to open his own Twitter app. "What was trending?"

"'Riley loves Harry' and 'Louis Loved Him First,'" I told them, with a smirk.

"Well, they're both true for once," Harry laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are approaching the end of this fic and we'll be splitting off into the sequels soon! There will be one more chapter for this fic! I'm excited to spin-off into the sequels in order to develop these different relationships more!  
> As always, comments/kudos appreciated and thank you so much for reading! Final chapter will be up sometime this week, followed by the first chapter of each sequel being posted soon after.


	21. Moving In

"I think you should move in," Louis stated. Out of nowhere. Harry and I literally had paused our forks on the way to our mouths in surprise.

"Babe - " Harry started.

"No, hear me out," he amended. "We're on break from tour right now. You two have been 'together' for about six months now? I think it's time."

"Louis - "

"You've already been leaving stuff here between trips back and forth. This wouldn't mean you'd see your family any less. Harry's flying off to LA all the time. We don't tour again for a couple months and it'll be easier for you two to be seen together if you're actually on the same continent more often than not."

"Harry?" I turned to him for his thoughts, blown away by how thoroughly Louis had apparently thought this through.

"It would be good for publicity," he admitted.

"I can't move in with you guys just because it's good for publicity."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"You're a couple. This is the only place you're completely free to be yourselves and be together. I don't want to get in the way of that."

"Riley - "

"Babe - "

They both stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Harry continued.

"You aren't in the way. You're one of our best friends. We feel totally comfortable being ourselves around you."

"And this house is plenty big enough for us to still have alone time with you living here," Louis added. "This isn't just an idea for publicity, I want to make your life easier. Travelling back and forth all the time can't be good for your job or anything else you've got going on back home."

"I don't have a job here."

"I spoke with the owners of the bookshop just down the road and they're looking for a bit of help on the weekends. Said it might evolve into a more permanent position after the holiday."

"You've already found me a job?" I asked, incredulous.

He grinned. "I wanted to be prepared for all your protests."

"What about my contract with Modest!?"

"I mentioned my idea to Katherine and she said it wouldn't really change a lot. They'll still pay for public appearance wardrobe and travelling if its with Harry or to go to Harry, although any other travelling, we can take care of, too, don't worry about not having the money to go home if you want to," he replied.

"My contract stays the same then? I'm not going to randomly have to pay for all this publicity stuff they want me at just because I'm actually living with you?"

"You don't need to worry about any of that. We will make sure you stay Harry's girlfriend until such time as Modest! allows us out of the closet or you decide you don't want to do this anymore."

"I'll do this as long as you need me to," I assured him.

"As long as you don't find a real boyfriend somewhere along the way," Louis replied with a look.

"And how does this all sound to you, Harry? Do you really want me around all the time?" I asked, choosing to ignore Louis's last comment.

"Honestly, we have fun with you and everything seems easier with you here and I would love to have you around all the time," Harry replied.

"Okay, I'm not going everywhere on tour when that starts back up, though, right?"

"You'll go as much as you are able or want to. I mean, unless Katherine decides otherwise," Louis assured me.

"I do want to travel the world; I just don't know that I want to do it as quickly as you guys do."

"Yeah, we don't get to see as much of it as we'd like," Harry admitted.

 

\---

 

"Are you seriously going to tweet about this?" I asked as Harry snapped a picture of the boxes piled in my room.

"Absolutely."

"Your fans are going to go ballistic," I reminded him.

"It'll be fine."

"There will be a war today, Harry Styles, I guarantee it," I told him, shaking my finger at him like a warning. "A war between our shippers and the Larry shippers."

Harry laughed.

"It's a thing that is totally going to happen," I assured him with a smirk.

 

\---

 

"I think I need to make some friends," I confessed into the phone.

"You have friends," Louis replied, confused.

"Girl friends. I mean, I spend all my time with you two and I need someone I can call up and go do something with when you two need alone time. Especially once I've moved in." I'd paused in my packing to call Louis. Harry had come to help me pack up my room, but I was missing Louis's presence.

"Don't treat yourself like you're a burden or something. If you want more friends, I'm sure you'll find some co-workers at your new job that you get on with."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Are you nervous about moving, babe?" Louis asked, concerned.

"I love London. I absolutely do. I'm just suddenly realizing that the only people that I know there are boys that are going to be travelling the world in a few months." I sighed.

"You'll make more friends here. There's always our sisters and mothers if you get desperate for companionship while we're away." I could hear the smirk in Louis's voice.

"Hey. Don't go making fun of me when I'm worried."

"No reason to be worried. You get along with everyone. Well, everyone but Eleanor, just about and I don't think it'll be hard for you to make new friends," he assured me.

"Okay, fine. Worried over nothing."

"Where's that boy of mine anyways? Is he not being helpful?" Louis teased.

"He's gone out for food. We've just about got my stuff all packed up."

"Good I'll see you two tomorrow?"

"Yep, well, late tomorrow," I confirmed.

"Tell Harry to call me soon. It's about bed time here."

I chuckled. "I'll tell him. Thanks, Lou."

"Talk to you later, babe."

 

\---

 

"How did they figure out when we were flying out?" I asked, staring in shock at the massive crowd of people (mostly girls) screaming Harry's name at the airport.

"They've probably just been waiting," Harry replied with a shrug.

"-Since you posted that picture…they knew you were helping me move," I said, nodding my head in understanding. "Alright, let's do this."

We walked towards the crowd, Harry holding my hand for a moment before he started posing for pictures.

"Are you really moving in with him?" a brunette asked me. She had her phone held up like she was recording the whole thing to study later.

I nodded with a small smile. "He didn't like me having to fly back and forth all the time," I told her.

"Harry, where's Louis?"

"I love you, Harry!"

"You two are so cute together!"

"Harry, are you going back to London?"

"I love you!"

The shouts were sporadic and random.

"If you guys keep calm, I can get pictures with all of you, but you've got to stay calm. And quiet," Harry told the crowd with a raised hand to placate them.

I smiled at the way he remained so calm in these situations.

"Can I get a picture with you?" a blonde girl asked me. I quickly covered my surprise and nodded, leaning in to take a picture with her.

I chuckled slightly. "I'm not usually asked for pictures when I'm following around the pop star over there," I said, gesturing towards Harry a few feet away. I'd gotten used to just standing back and letting him do his thing with his fans while I stayed out of the way.

"You're dating him, though, that kind of makes you famous," a brunette girl informed me.

"No, no," I assured her. "Knowing famous people does not make one famous."

"You don't want to be famous?"

"I will be the loving doting girlfriend, but no, I don't have an interest in being famous," I replied.

"Keeping my girl entertained over here, ladies?" Harry asked, walking up to press a kiss against my cheek before posing with each girl for a picture.

"She's telling us how she doesn't want to be famous," one of them replied with a chuckle.

"Ah, yes, we've had this discussion. She doesn't need to be famous," Harry said, sending me a small smirk.

 

\---

 

"I'm due to start at the bookstore next weekend," I told Harry and Louis over dinner. "And I've almost got all my stuff unpacked."

Louis nodded.

"We've got meetings all day tomorrow for the tour, so you'll be on your own until dinner," Harry reminded me.

"I'll probably do a little grocery shopping, if you guys want to let me know of anything we need?" I replied with a nod.

"Yeah, I'll leave a note on the fridge and we'll let you sleep in," Louis said.

 

\---

 

"You bastards," I muttered to the note on the refrigerator the next morning.

 

_Riley, here's our grocery list:_

_Eggs_

_Ketchup_

_Sugar_

_Condoms_

_Lube_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's the end!! Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'll be posting the first chapter of each sequel within the next hour, so you can totally go right into whichever sequel you choose.  
> "Something Forbidden" will continue this story into Riley getting into a relationship with Liam and "Something Unconventional" will continue this story into Riley getting into a relationship with Louis and Harry. That's right, Louis AND Harry. I'm excited about both.
> 
> Again, thanks for reading and I always get extremely happy when I get comments/kudos, so thanks for those in advance and for all those I've already received :)


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